The author would like to thank James Wilkie, Kyle Chamberlin, Victoria Blainey, Barbara McDonald, and Nicole

Horne for their time,

dedication and many contributions to this project.
At the Foundation, the project was directed by Victoria Rideout, vice president and director of the Foundations Program for the
Study of Entertainment Media and Health.
A kAi ser fAmi ly foundAti on report
eli zAbeth s. moore
Associ Ate professor of mArketi ng
uni versi ty of notre dAme
july 2006
table of contents
IntRoDUctIon 1
ResearchPurpose 2
MetHoD 2
ResearchApproach 2
Sample 2
ResearchInstrument 3
DataAnalysis 4
oVeRVIeW of fInDInGs 4
aDVeRGaMes 5
DistributionofGamesacrossWebsites 5
CategoriesofGames 5
BrandExposures 6
ChoicesinGamePlay 6
FeaturestoExtendGamePlay 7
bRanD eXPosURes beYonD tHe GaMes 8
NumberofBrandVariants 8
PrevalenceofBrandIdentifiers 8
TelevisionCommercials 9
TwoKeyCategoriesofAdvertisingClaims 10
1.BrandBeneftClaims 10
2.NutritionalClaimsandInformation 11
cUstoMIZInG tHe VIsItoRs eXPeRIence 12
WebsiteMembership 13
WebsiteCommunities 14
ViralMarketing 15
OtherAttemptstoPersonalize 16
MaRketInG PaRtneRsHIPs 17
MediaTie-Ins 17
PromotionsandSponsorships 19
eDUcatIonal content 20
eXtenDInG tHe onlIne eXPeRIence 21
ProvisionofExtraBrand-RelatedItems 22
ForgingLinkstoProductConsumption 23
ExpandingUsageOccasionswithNewRecipes 25
LinkstoOtherWebsites 27
WebsIte PRotectIons foR cHIlDRen 26
PrivacyProtectionsandAgeBlocks 26
InformationforParents 26
AdBreakReminders 27
sUMMaRY anD conclUsIons 27
RefeRences 30
enDnotes 32
tables 35
fIGURes 41
aPPenDIces 49
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 !
IntRoDUctIon
Advertising is a pervasive presence in the lives of most
American children. Estimates suggest that young people
watch over three hours of television per day (Roberts, Foehr
andRideout2005)andareexposedtoanywherefrom23,000
to40,000televisioncommercialsinasingleyear(FTC/DHHS
2006; Kunkel 2001). Emerging media such as the Internet
havefurtherexpandedadvertisingsreachandoffernovelop-
portunities to target this young audience. Estimates suggest
that98%ofchildrenssitespermitadvertising,andthatmore
thantwo-thirdsofwebsitesdesignedforchildrenrelyonadver-
tisingfortheirprimaryrevenue(Neuborne2001).Commercially
sponsored websites containing games and promotions de-
signedforchildrenarealsoanemergingforceontheInternet.
Concernaboutchildrensabilitytocomprehendandcriti-
cally evaluate these sales messages has stimulated research
and debate for more than three decades. The scope of this
debatehasbroadenedinrecentyearsasnewadvertisingven-
ueshavebecomeavailable.Withthesignifcantriseinlevelsof
childhoodobesity,particularquestionsarebeingraisedabout
the impacts of food marketing. Two comprehensive studies
haverecentlybeenpublished,onebytheInstituteofMedicine
intheU.S.,andanotherbytheFoodStandardsAgencyinthe
U.K. which attempt to assess marketings contribution to the
obesityproblemthroughareviewoftheexistingempiricalevi-
dence(Hastings2003;InstituteofMedicine2005).Byneces-
sity,thesereviewsareheavilyfocusedontheimpactsoftelevi-
sion advertising because this has been the primary research
emphasisovertime.Relativelylittleisknownaboutthenature
and effects of emerging media such as the Internet, product
placementsorbuzzmarketing.Yet,commentatorsonallsides
oftheissuerecognizethatthepictureisincomplete,andthat
themanynewformsofmarketingactivitytargetedatchildren
needtobeinvestigatedaswell.
OneoftheperceivedstrengthsoftheInternetisitscapac-
itytoengenderhighlevelsofinterestandengagement.Con-
sumershavetoseekoutdesiredcontent,andinteractwithitin
someway.Thisisaninherentlyactiveprocess:surfngthrough
a website demands a continuing series of decisions and ac-
tions. It is this feature that distinguishes the Internet from a
more passive medium like television. Rather than capturing
childrens attention for 30 seconds, the advertiser may now
engage children for several minutes in this potentially power-
ful,interactivemedium.Someestimatessuggest,forexample,
thatvisitorsspendanaverageof25minutesonagamingsite
(e.g,Bertrim2005;FattahandPaul2002;Pereira2004).
1
Sites
for children are designed to be playful and highly involving,
withbrandimmersionasanessentialobjective(Ferrazziand
Benezra2001;Goetzl2006).

Articlesappearinginthebusinesspressgenerallysuggest
thatadvergamesareacommonfeatureonwebsitesdesigned
for,andvisitedbychildren.Theseadvertiser-sponsoredvideo
gamesembedbrandmessagesincolorful,fun,andfast-paced
adventures.Theyarecreatedbyafrmfortheexplicitpurpose
ofpromotingoneormoreofitsbrands.Thisisevidentinthe
termitself,whichisderivedfromcombiningthewordsadver-
tisement and video game (Grossman 2005). Advergames
are a particular form of branded entertainment which is the
insertion of a brand within an entertainment property (e.g.,
productplacementinflm,televisionshoworvideogame).In
sodoing,thelinesbetweenentertainmentandadvertisingbe-
comeblurred.
Childrenappeartobewillingconsumersofthesemarket-
ing communications. Approximately 64% of children (ages
514)whoaccesstheInternetdosotoplaygames(U.S.Dept.
of Education 2003). More than 13.1 million children ages 2
to 11 use the Internet, and their numbers are increasing rap-
idly (Larson 2004). Nielsen/Net Ratings reported that usage
among 211 year-olds increased 34% in October 2005 over
thesametimeperiodtheyearbefore(Goetzl2006).Evenvery
youngchildrenareactiveparticipants.Sixty-sixpercentof46
yearoldsliveinhomeswithInternetaccess,56%canusethe
computerbythemselves,and30%havevisitedawebsitefor
children(Rideout,VandewaterandWartella2003).
Branded entertainment is a fast-growing and potentially
highly effective way to reach consumers in unique and com-
pellingways.Growthinthisareaisbeingdrivenbyadesirein
themarketingcommunitytoparticipateinthedevelopmentof
allformsofentertainment(OGuinn,AllenandSemenik2006).
Advergaming itself is expanding very rapidly. A recent Price
WaterhouseCoopersestimateprojectsafve-foldincreaseby
2009 over current spending levels (quoted in Bertrim 2005).
Major advertising agencies such as Young & Rubicam and
Starcom Media have recently launched new videogame divi-
sionstoservethisemergingclientneed.
Beyonditspowertocreatebrandengagement,theInternet
hasseveraladditionaladvantagesfromamarketersperspective.
First,itisacost-effectivewaytodeliverabrandmessage(Bertrim
2005). While the cost to air a television commercial in 2004
rangedfromapproximately$7toover$30perthousandviewers
(depending on the daypart), there are no media distribution
costsonceawebsitehasbeencreated.Estimatessuggestthat
whendevelopmentcostsarespreadacrossgameplayers,an
advergamecancostlessthan$2perthousandusers(Pereira
2004).So,therearerealeconomiceffcienciestobegained.
ThetechnologyoftheInternetalsoprovidesaudiencetracking
. 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
capabilities.Whileitcanbediffcultforamarketertogaugethe
impactofatelevisioncommercial,theInternetallowsamuch
more precise assessment via measures such as the number
of visitors, time spent on a site, repeat visits, etc. At a more
fundamentallevel,theInternetcanserveasacentralorganizing
platform for an entire integrated marketing communications
program (Aaker 2002). It can be used to create synergies
amongvariousbrandbuildingprogramssothatthetotalimpact
isgreaterthanitwouldotherwisebe.
Forchildren,anadvergamingwebsitecanbeaplaceto
play, and to explore. As a form of mediated communication,
it departs in signifcant ways from television, the medium
advertisers have traditionally used to reach children. As a
result,questionshavebeenraisedaboutchildrenscapacityto
interpretandassesscommercialmessagesinthisenvironment
(e.g., Montgomery 2001). With more and more children
gravitating to the Internet, greater insight into the nature and
impactsofthesewebsitesisneeded.
Research Purpose
Although questions have been raised about the nature
and impact of advergaming websites, there have been no
systematicempiricalanalysesofthisnewmodeofcommunicating
with children. Within the last year, a number of efforts have
been initiated by business, government, self-regulatory and
consumer advocacy groups to review this practice (see e.g.,
Harkin2005;Mayer2006;NationalAdvertisingReviewCouncil
2005). However, to this point these groups have had to rely
primarilyonanecdotalevidenceintheirtreatmentoftheissue.
Thus, the purpose of this research is to obtain an
accurate depiction of the state of one key aspect of food
marketingcommunicationsthataretargetingchildrenonline:
child-orientedcontentoncorporatewebsites.Todoso,an
in-depth analysis of content on such sites was conducted
(e.g.,MasterFoodsskittles.com;Wrigleysjuicyfruit.com).
Althoughfoodadsarealsoplacedonothertypesofwebsites
forchildren(e.g.,nick.com,neopets.com)thesesitesarebeyond
thescopeofthisstudy.Giventhepaucityofevidenceonthe
topicofInternet-basedadvertisingtochildren,thecurrentstudy
shouldsignifcantlyadvanceunderstandingofthisnon-traditional
marketingapproach.Conceptually,itwilllikelystimulateanalysis
of the apparent blurring of boundaries between advertising
and entertainment, and its implications for persuading young
consumers.
MetHoD
Research approach
Toaccomplishtheseobjectives,acontentanalysisofmajor
foodadvertiserswebsiteswasconductedduringthesummer
and fall of 2005. This is an observational research method
used to scientifcally analyze communications. A content
analysisisastudyofthemessage,ratherthantheintentofthe
communicator or the perceptions of the audience (Kassarjian
1977). Thus, the focus is on the essential properties of the
stimuli itself. Given the evolving nature of the Internet as an
advertising medium, it is particularly important to gain insight
into what children encounter when they visit these websites.
As a research method, content analysis has been applied
to a wide range of topics in the social sciences, as well as
advertisingissues(e.g.,Alexanderetal.1998;BelkandPollay
1985;MaherandChilds2003).Itproducesananalysisthatis
objective,systematicandquantifable(Kassarjian1977;Kolbe
andBurnett1991).
sample
Atotalof96brandswereidentifedascandidatesforthe
study.Anumberofsystematicstepsweretakentoidentify
thesebrands,andtolocaterelevantwebsites.Thesesteps
aredetailedbelow.
Selection of Product Categories and Brands. A key
objectiveintheselectionprocesswastoidentifyfoodbrands
thathavebeenheavilyadvertisedtochildren.Becausetelevision
has been the primary medium used to reach children, TV
advertisingexpendituresduringchildrensprogrammingwere
usedtonamerelevantcandidates.Designationasachildrens
program is based on information supplied by Tribune Media
Services(TMS).TheFeaturesDepartmentofTMSdetermines
on a weekly basis which television shows are intended for
children based on information supplied by the networks and
cablechannels.Severalweeksoftheirlistingswereexamined,
andthefollowingmedia:(1)Saturday/Sundaymorningnetwork
TV, (2) Daytime (MF) network TV (including early morning,
daytime,andearlyfringe/news),and(3)CableTV(alldayparts)
together account for all childrens programming listings (with
the exception of the Disney Channel, which does not permit
foodadvertising).
To identify foods advertised in these media, Competitive
Media Reports (CMR) data from 19992003 was reviewed.
2

AppendixAlistsallcategoriesoffoodsadvertisedinthosemedia
duringthatfve-yeartimeperiod.Todeterminewhichofthese
product categories were potentially relevant to the study, two
judges independently coded every brand advertised as either
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 `
achildrensbrand(uptoage12)oranadultbrand.Allbrands
thateitherexplicitlytargetchildren,orwhosecommunications
werelikelytobeofinteresttothem,werecodedaschildrens
brands. To be as inclusive as possible, brands that were
promotedtoamoregeneralaudience(i.e.,childrenandteens,
childrenandadults)werecodedaschildrensbrands.Brands
whose marketing communications appeared to be targeted
solely at parents were coded as adult brands even though
children may be consumers of these products (e.g., infant
foods). Inter-coder reliability for this classifcation was 94%,
anddisagreementswereresolvedthroughdiscussion.
Analysis then proceeded for all product categories in
which any childrens brands appeared (see Appendix A for
listing).Tosimplifytheanalysis,someproductcategorieswere
subsequentlycombined(e.g.,candyandgum).
3
Thisresulted
in a set of 12 product categories including: (1) breads and
pastries,(2)candyandgum,(3)breakfastcereals,(4)cookies
andcrackers,(5)fruitjuicesandothernon-carbonateddrinks,
(6) ice cream and frozen novelties, (7) peanut butter and jelly,
(8)preparedfoodsandmeals,(9)restaurants,(10)saltysnacks,
(11)carbonatedsoftdrinks,and(12)othersnacks(e.g.,yogurt,
fruitsnacks,granolabars).
Signifcant variation in market structure (i.e. number of
brandentrants,andmarketshare)existsacrosstheseproduct
categories.Asaresult,specifcbrandswereselectedineach
category on the basis that they fell within the top 8085%
of television advertising expenditures for that product class
(based on the Competitive Media Reports data from 1999
2003). Thus, the emphasis is on the food brands in each
productcategorythathavetraditionallybeenheavyadvertisers
tochildren.Ninety-sixbrandswereidentifed:thesearelisted
inAppendixB.
4

Selection of Websites. Websites for these brands were

includedinthestudyiftheprimaryaudiencewasjudgedtobe
children (up to age 12), or if a site incorporated content that
wouldlikelyappealtoayoungaudience(evenifteen-oradult-
focusedcontentwasemphasized).
5
Forexample,thewonka.
comsiteclearlyemphasizesactivitiesforchildren.Asapointof
comparison,thehersheys.comsitehassubstantialcontentfor
anadultaudiencesuchasrecipes,promotionsandcorporate
information, yet also includes games, downloadable items,
crafts, and e-cards likely to be of interest to children. Both
of these types of websites are included in the study sample.
Websites not offcially affliated with a study brand were not
includedinthestudy(e.g.,consumer-createdsites).Norwere
internationally based sites included in the analysis. As noted
earlier,child-orientedsitesthatacceptfoodadvertisementsbut
thataresponsoredbyanothertypeoffrm(e.g.,Nickelodeons
nick.com)werealsoexcluded.
6
Tobeincludedinthesample,
awebsitehadtobesponsoredbyafoodmanufacturer.

Sevendecisionrulesweredevelopedtolocatecorporate-
sponsored websites for each of the original 96 brands in the
study.For14ofthesebrands,nositesmeetingthedecision
criteriawerefoundandtheyweredroppedfromallsubsequent
analyses. Specifc decision rules for selecting the sites are
detailed in Table 1. The most common way to locate sites
wasbylookingatthebrandspackagingforthewebaddress:
53% of sites were identifed by this method. Examples of
othersuccessfulapproachesincluded:(1)insertingthebrand
name (e.g., www.frootloops.com) into the address line of the
web browser (47% hit rate), (2) searching from the company
website for links to a childrens site or gaming section (45%),
and(3)searchingthefrst10resultsproducedbyinsertingthe
brand name into the Google search engine (49%). Seventy-
one percent of the sample was located through two or more
approaches,withsomeidentifedbyasmanyasfveorsixof
thedecisionrules.Thus,thesiteswerenotdiffculttofnd.This
search process produced a total of 77 websites. Given that
somesitescontainmultiplebrandsinthestudy(n=21)aswell
asthefactthatsomebrandsappearonmultiplesites(n=22),
thefnalsampleincludedatotalof107brand/sitepairs.
Research Instrument
Although the original aim of the study was to investigate
advergaming it quickly became apparent that the websites
containedmanyadditionalactivitiesandattributesofpotential
interest.Asaresult,anumberofwebsitefeaturesinaddition
tospecifcsaboutthegameswereincorporatedintothestudy
(e.g.,viralmarketingattempts,childprotectionpolicies,media
tie-ins, promotions). A three-part coding instrument was
developed to address this broader set of issues. The frst
sectionfocusedongeneralaspectsofthewebsite;thesecond
centered on specifc details about a study brands presence
onthesite,andthethirdsectionwasspecifctoeachwebsite
game. This instrument was designed to be completed as a
coderstudiedthewebsite.
All pages of the study websites were coded.
7
In the
end, more than 4,000 unique web pages were coded. The
instrumentwasthoroughlypre-tested,andnecessaryrevisions
weremadeinthespringof2005.Tosupplementthecoding
ofcontent,traffcdatawaspurchasedforeachofthewebsites
from Nielsen/Net Ratings for the second quarter of 2005 (for
211year-olds).
4 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
Data analysis
The study websites were independently coded by two
judges.
8
At the outset, each judge received several hours of
training (approximately 20 hours) using the survey instrument
to code websites that were similar to, but outside of, the re-
search sample. As part of the training process, coders were
given detailed written instructions explaining how each of the
surveyquestionswastobeinterpreted.Aftereachpreliminary
sitewascoded,thejudgeswerebroughttogethertocompare
their responses, review question defnitions, and resolve any
disagreements.Therewereatotaloffvejudges.Teammeet-
ings were also held in this early stage to address perceived
ambiguitiesinspecifcquestions.Throughthisprocess,asat-
isfactory level of preliminary agreement was achieved among
eachpairofcoders(andwritteninstructionsweremodifedas
necessary).Oncethetrainingprocesswascomplete,twocod-
ers were randomlyassignedto each site. Each websitewas
then independently coded, and disagreements were resolved
throughdiscussionaftercodingwascompletedbybothjudges.
Screenshots(i.e.,pictures)werealsocapturedforallpageson
eachwebsite,whichwereusedtohelpresolvedisagreements
thatarose.Theaverageinter-judgeagreementlevelacrossthe
setofquestionswas96%:therewerenosignifcantdifferences
betweenpairsofcoders.
oVeRVIeW of fInDInGs
Eighty-fve percent of the brands originally identifed for
study have a website that either directly targets children, or
containscontentthatwouldlikelybeofinteresttothem.One
ofthestrikingfeaturesthatemergedintheearlystagesofthis
researchistherangeofactivitiesavailableonthesewebsitesas
wellasthelevelofdifferentiationacrossthem.
Although the research was initially focused on adver-
games there were many additional dimensions on the sites
thatarelikelytobeofinteresttoaresearchaudience.Some
ofthesitesareverysimple,containingfewactivitiesorgames,
and others are quite elaborate, incorporating not only games
butfeaturessuchaspromotions,viralmarketingefforts,mem-
bershipopportunities,aswellasmovieandtelevisiontie-ins.It
isalsothecasethatindividualmarketersareusingtheirInternet
spaceindifferentways,someinafashionthatisovertlyinfor-
mational,andothersinwaysthataremuchmorefocusedon
funandentertainment.Eachoftheseattributesofthesitesis
examinedinthesectionsthatfollow.Beforeturningtospecifc
features,itmaybeusefultoidentifysomeofthemajorstruc-
turalwaysinwhichthewebsitesvary.
For example, one of the key distinguishing characteris-
ticsisthenumberoffoodbrandspresentonawebsite.Sev-
enty-three percent of the sites contained only a single brand.
Amongtheremaining27%,asmanyas41foodbrandswere
present (some more prominently displayed than others). On
these multi-brand sites, there was an average of nine brands
persite.Notallofthebrandsthatappearonthewebsiteswere
includedinthestudy(becausethefocuswasonheavyspend-
ers).However,itisusefultokeepinmindthatasitevisitors
exposuretofoodproductsmayextendintoanumberofprod-
uctcategories,andacrossseveralbrands.
Thereisalsovariationintheprimaryaudiencefortheweb-
sites.Althoughtheobjectiveofthestudywastofocusonweb-
sitestargetingchildren,somesitesincorporatefeaturesthatare
likelytobeofinteresttoamoregeneralaudienceaswell.For
example,somesitesemphasizedinformationforadultsorpar-
ents (12% of the brand/site pairs), but child-oriented content
wasalsoembeddedwithinthesite(ofteninaseparatesection).
Othersappearedtotargetteensdirectly(9%),buttherewere
activities including games, music and sports sponsorships
thatwerelikelytoappealtoayoungeraudienceaswell.Sites
that were directly centered on activities for children comprise
68% of the sample. The remaining 11% contained content
someportionofwhichwouldlikelybeofinteresttoeachofthe
threedemographicgroups.Insomeoftheanalysesthatfol-
low,sitesemphasizingchild-andteen-orientedcontent(77%
ofthesample)arecomparedtothosethatalsocontaincontent
foradultsorforamoregeneralaudience(23%ofthesample).
Whenwebsitesdifferonthebasisofaudiencecharacteristics,
thisisnotedinthediscussionofspecifcfndings.
To address the question of audience size, Nielsen/Net
Ratingsdataforthesecondquarterof2005wereused.There
wereatotalof12.2millionvisitsbychildrenages211across
thesetofstudywebsitesduringthatthree-monthperiod.
9
There were signifcant variations among the sites in the
studyintermsofthenumberofyoungvisitorstheyattracted.
Inordertoexplorewhetherthereweredifferencesinthecon-
tentandfeaturesbetweenthemorepopularandthelesspopu-
larsites,theNielsendatawereusedtodividethesampleinto
twogroupsbasedonaudiencesize.Thefrst,thelowvisitors
group,represents73%ofthestudybrands.Thesecond,the
highvisitorsgroup,includesallremainingsites.Thesebrands
constitute 27% of the sample.
10
The high visitor and low
visitorwebsitesinthestudysharemanyofthesamecharac-
teristics, yet there are some discernable differences. Where
differencesareapparentbetweenthesetwogroups,theyare
notedinthepresentationofresults.
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 '
Thediscussionofspecifcfndingsisorganizedintoseven
major topics. The frst focuses on the games, including their
frequencyofoccurrence,varioustypes,andprominenceofthe
brandlogoandproductpackagewithinthem.Then,theanaly-
sis shifts to website activities that extend beyond the adver-
gamesthemselves.Inthesecondsection,theoveralllevelof
brandexposureschildrenexperienceonthesitesisreported,
whether in the form of specifc brand marks, appearances in
televisioncommercialsorviabeneftclaims.Thesefndingsare
discussedinrelationtonutritionalinformationandclaimsthat
alsoappearonthewebsites.Inthethirdsection,theanalysis
turnstomarketerseffortstocustomizeavisitorsexperience,
whetherthroughmembershipopportunities,orviralmarketing
(i.e.,involvingachildsfriend).Sectionfourexaminestheuse
ofmarketingpartnershipsorbrandalliancesonthesites(e.g.,
consumer promotion, movie or television tie-in). Educational
activitiesareaddressedinsectionfve.Insectionsix,specifc
methodsusedtoextendtheonlineexperiencebeyondthesite
visitareoutlined,(e.g.,collectionofbrandrewards,download-
ablebrandextras)andtheirprevalencereported.And,inthe
fnalsection,evidencerelevanttoexistingwebsiteprotections
forchildrenispresented.
aDVeRGaMes
Onlinegamescanprovideamorehighlyinvolvinganden-
tertainingbrandexperiencethanispossiblewithconventional
media. At least one commentator has characterized gaming
sitesasvirtualamusementparks(Goetzl2006).Imagine,for
example,thatNestlePush-upFrozenTreatsarepoppingupall
overtheplace,anditsyourjobtobopembackdown.
11
For
everypopthatyoubop,youearnpoints,andasyoubecome
moreskilledatthegame,youcanprogressfromtheeasyto
amediumorhardlevelofplay.Thebrandpackageisthe
visual centerpiece of the game (it pops up repeatedly), mak-
ing the brand easier to recall later. This is Bop-a-Pop one
ofthegamesonthekids.icecream.comwebsite.Itisbutone
illustration of an imaginative array of games that are available
forchildrentoplay.Intotal,546uniquegamescontainingone
ormorefoodbrandswerecountedonthestudywebsites.Of
these,431gamescontainstudybrands(andarethebasisfor
the analysis here).
12
These games are not evenly distributed
acrosssites.
Distribution of Games across Websites
Notallofthewebsitesemphasize,orevenincludegames.
Overall,73%ofthesitesinthestudypostedoneormoregames
containingfoodbrands.Thismeansthat27%donotinclude
any games, but instead incorporate other kinds of content
thatwouldlikelyappealtochildren.Amongthegamingsites,
therewasasubstantialrangeinthenumberofgames(froma
minimumofonegametoamaximumof67onsite).Figure1(all
Figures&Tablesarelocatedatthebackofthereport)depicts
the distribution of food-related games across websites.
13
As
shown,thereissubstantialvariationaroundthemeanofseven.
Oneofthefactorsthatdifferentiateasitewithmoregamesthan
othersiswhetheritcontainstwoormorefoodbrands.Onthe
singlebrandsitestherewereanaverageof3.6games,andon
themulti-brandsitestheaverageroseto16.4gamespersite,
asignifcantdifference(F=19.13,p<.0001).
14
Gaming is a major emphasis on some websites (e.g.,
candystand.com, nabiscoworld.com, postopia.com). On
thesekindsofsites,30ormoregamesmaybeposted,which
are organized into categories (e.g., sports, arcade, word) to
helpvisitorsfndthekindofgametheywouldmostliketoplay.
When one game ends, visitors may be given suggestions for
othergamestheymightalsoenjoy.Highscorersmaybeable
to post their scores to a leader board, so that other gamers
canseehowwelltheyhavedone.Byplayingthegamesbrand
awarenessisreinforced,andrepeatvisitsareencouraged.
Sites with a large number of games attract more young
children.Toillustrate,onthehighvisitorsitesinthestudythere
wereanaverageof22.4games,andonthelowvisitorsites
themeandropsto4.5gamespersite(F=25.44,p<.0001).
categories of Games
Although each game has its unique elements, there are
discernablegametypes.Arcade,sportsandadventuregames
arethemostcommon.Thesearenotverycomplicatedtolearn
and the rules of play are generally simple. The vast majority
of games are animated, and most incorporate lively music or
soundeffects(90%).
Althoughtheprimarychallengeinmostofthegamesisto
achildseye-handcoordinationorrefexes,afewgamesalso
testachildsmemory(e.g.,matchingpairsofcardsastheyare
fipped over) or simple spatial skills (e.g., puzzles). The clear
emphasis throughout the games is entertainment and brand
reinforcement. Table 2 shows the types of games recorded
onthesitesandhowfrequentlyeachoccurred.Asshown,11
essentialtypesdescribe95%ofthegames.
brand exposures
From a marketers perspective, one of the potential
advantagesofanadvergameistheabilitytodrawattentionto
yourbrandinaplayfulway,andforanextendedperiodoftime
(atleastrelativetoa30-secondtelevisionad).Todeterminehow
muchbrandexposurevisitorsactuallyreceivewhentheyplaya
game,thepresenceorabsenceoffourbasicbrandidentifers
o 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
(or marks) was recorded for each game containing a study
brand. These include: (1) the food item (e.g., CapnCrunch
cerealinabowl),(2)aproductpackage,(3)abrandcharacter
(ifany)and(4)thebrandlogo.Identiferssuchasthesecanbe
usedtodrawconsumersattention,andhelpthemtorecognize
andrememberthebrandonsubsequentoccasions.Insome
cases, particularly for sports-related games, the presence of
brands can make them seem more realistic than they might
otherwisebe(The Economist 2005).AsshowninBox1below,
97% (or 420 games) incorporate at least one type of brand
identifer.
15
Eightypercentcontaintwoormore.
Exposure levels to each of the four brand identifers are
reported in Table 3, at the back of the report. As indicated,
brand logos were the most visible, appearing in 86% of the
games. The other three indicators were also evident but not
tothesamedegree(rangingfromappearancesin43%to57%
ofthegames).However,inadditiontopresenceorabsence,
wealsoaskedhowprominentthesethreebrandelementsare
withinthegames.Specifcally,forthepackageandfooditem,
towhatextentdotheseappearasaprimarygamepiece(e.g.,
objectofgameistocatchasmanyFrootLoopsaspossiblein
abowl)?Ofthosewithapackageincorporatedintogameplay,
in39%ofthecasesthepackagewasjudgedtobetheprimary
orfocalobjectinthegame.Whenfooditemsareincorporated
intogameplay,theyaretheprimarygamepiecein58%ofthe
cases.And,whenthebrandcharacterisincluded,prominence
wasjudgedonthebasisthatthereissomeinteractionwiththe
characterduringthegame(e.g.,charactertalksorisclickedon
for movement). Brand characters were prominent in 63% of
thegamesinwhichtheyappear.
Overall, one or more of the brand marks (i.e., package,
fooditem,character)isprominentin64%ofthegamesinwhich
theyappear.Thus,thereisaveryhighprobabilitythatachild
will encounter a brand in some form in the games he or she
chooses to play. Brands represent an integral component of
thegameswhetherasgamepieces,prizesorsecrettreasure.
Inalargemajorityofcases,morethanasinglebrandidentifer
willbepresent,andinmanygamesthebrandcharacter,food
itemorpackagetakescenterstage.

choices in Game Play

Onemechanismtoincreaseaplayerslevelofengagement
in a game is to personalize the experience in some way.
Giving a child the freedom to choose his game player, select
an opponent, or design the game space is likely to stimulate
greaterinterest.Overall,39%ofthegamesincorporatedoneor
moresuchelements.Figure2organizesdifferentapproaches
usedtopersonalizethegamesintothreebroadcategories:(1)
choiceofplayers,(2)designofgamespaceand(3)selecting
themodeofplay.Specifclistingsinthethreecategoriesare
representative of the types of approaches used, but are not
exhaustive.
Asshown,childrenaremostfrequentlygiventhechoiceof
theirgameplayeroropponent(52%ofchoiceoptionsinvolve
players). Sometimes the player is a brand character or a
vehiclethathasabrandlogoonit.Inothercases,theplayer
isananimatedchildthatcanbenamed,orgivenaparticular
hairstyle or clothing. In addition, children may be given the
choiceofhowtoplaythegame(optionstochoosethelevelof
diffculty,orstyleofplaywouldbeincludedheree.g.,typeof
baseballswing).And,fnallychildrenmaybeallowedtodesign
aspectsofthegamespace(e.g.,colors,music).Byproviding
suchchoiceoptions,marketersmaybedrawingmorefocused
attention to, and higher levels of involvement in the game
itself.

Box 1: Brand IdentIfIers In Games

types of Brand
IdentIfIers
percentaGe of
Games
0 3%
1 17
2 40
3 29
4 11
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3
features to extend Game Play
Therearesomefeaturesthatmayhelptosustainachilds
interestinagame,bothduringasinglesitevisitandperhaps
on return visits. One mechanism that might have such an
effect is to structure a game so that multiple levels can be
achieved as a game players skills improve. The level of play
can serve as a benchmark against which personal progress
canbemeasured.Itsetsupachallengethatagamercantry
toachieve.Structuringagamesothatpointscanbeearned
mayhaveasimilareffect.Playerscanmonitorhowwellthey
are doing and how much their scores improve. Setting time
limitsforplaymayalsoencouragegamerstotrytobeattheir
priorperformanceinthetimeallotted.Eachofthesestructural
aspectsofagamecanhelptomotivateaplayertochallenge
themselves,andsototryagain.Forty-fvepercentofthegames
offermultiplelevelsofplay,69%awardgamepoints,and40%
incorporatetimelimitsofsomesort.
Beyond the potential for challenging oneself, there are
moreovertmechanismsthatagamedesignermightusetotry
toencourageextendedplay.Explicitlyaskingaplayerifthey
wouldliketoplayagainattheendofagameisoneexample
(71% of the study games included such an option). Specifc
recommendationsofothergamesthevisitormightenjoymay
also extend time spent on the site, and perhaps expand the
number of activities that are worth returning for (22% of the
gamesincludedarecommendationofsometype).And,39%
ofthegamesinvitegamerstoposttheirhighscorestoaleader
board,asonthepopsicle.comsite.
The public display of scores invites competition, and
encouragesgameplayerstoreturntothesitetoseehowwell
theyarefaringagainstit.Itmayalsomotivatesomeplayersto
trytoimprovetheirplaceintheoverallstandings.Rewarding
high scorers with extra game features or prizes (e.g., special
downloads) might also be ways to overtly encourage repeat
play,butneitherisincorporatedinmanygames.Only5%of
games reward good game performance with extra features,
andjust5%giveprizes.
Overall, there are a variety of game features that may
helptostimulateextendedplay.Someoftheseinvolveovert
encouragement while others are more subtle, relying instead
on a game players desire to challenge himself or herself to
improveascoreorreachahigherlevelofplay.
c 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
bRanD eXPosURes beYonD tHe GaMes
Oneofthequestionsposedearlyinthestudyfocusedon
howmuchbrandandcompanyinformationchildrenwouldac-
tually be exposed to when visiting these sites. For example,
would children have many exposures to product packages,
brandcharacters,orlogosastheyclickedthroughthesite,or
justafew?Wouldtheybeexposedtoexplicitbrandbeneftor
nutritionalclaims?Ifso,whatisthenatureofthoseclaimsand
howprevalentarethey?Anumberofapproacheswereused
to try to address these questions. The results that follow in
thissectionpertainonlytothenon-gameareasofthesites.In
otherwords,theyexcludebrandexposureswithinthegames
andgamemenus(thoseexposuresareinadditiontothosere-
portedhere).
number of brand Variants
Theprominenceofthebrandidentifersisdriveninpartby
thenumberofbrandvariantsorstockkeepingunits(SKUs)
depicted (e.g., cherry versus grape favor). As shown below,
therewasawiderangeinthenumberofvariantsorSKUspre-
sentedforthestudybrands.
Arelativelylargerangemightbeexpectedgiventhetypes
ofproductcategoriesadvertisedhere.Forexample,breakfast
cerealshadfewervariantsoverall(range:1to4,mean=2)than
acategorylikecandy(range:2to41,mean=10)wheremore
extensiveproductlinesarecommon.Fromthemarketersper-
spective,theInternetcanbeanadvertisingvenuethatispar-
ticularlywell-suitedforinformingconsumersaboutthearrayof
productformsandfavorsavailable.Whileitmightbediffcult
tocommunicatemuchaboutanentireproductlineinthespace
ofa30-secondtelevisionad,itismoreeasilyaccomplishedon
theInternet.Informationandsellingpointscanbeconveyedat
alowvariablecostforallSKUsoffered.So,generallyspeaking,
itisinthemarketersinteresttopresentthefullrangeofalterna-
tivestheyoffer.Itisthenleftuptotheconsumertosearchfor
asmuchoraslittleinformationasheorshechooses.Insome
cases,thismaymeansiftingthroughalargenumberofbrand
variants:heretheoverallrangewasfrom1to95.
Prevalence of brand Identifiers
Thereareanumberofwaysthatavisitormightbeexposed
to a brand on a website. For example, explicit brand beneft
claimsmightbemade(thesearediscussedinalatersection).
Inaddition,therearethebasicbrandidentifersormarksthat
may be used to help consumers remember a brand later. In
thisstudy,anumberofbrandidentiferswererecordedinclud-
ingthefourexaminedinthegames:(1)brandlogo,(2)brand
character,(3)productpackage,(4)brandinproductform(e.g.,
picture of Fruity Pebbles in a bowl), as well as two additional
indicators,(5)textofthebrandname,and(6)corporatelogo.
Giventhecommercialnatureofthesampleitwasanticipatedat
theoutsetthattheseidentiferswouldbepresentonthesites,
itjustwasntcleartowhatextent.
The most common identifer that appeared is a brand or
corporatelogo.Althoughveryfewbrandsusebothlogosex-
tensively,many(approximately75%)useoneofthetwologos
onalmostallpageswithinasite.So,forthemajorityofsites,a
childislikelytoseeabrandorcorporatelogooneachpagehe
orshevisits.Otheridentifersvarymoreintheextenttowhich
theyareused.Forsomebrandstheproductoritspackaging
isemphasizedwhileforothersacharacterorthebrandname
itselfaremoreprominent.

Togainanoverallpictureofexposurelevels,thepresence
or absence of each of the six brand indicators was tallied for
everypageonthewebsites,andthenaddedtogethertocreate
asummarybrandpresencemeasure.
16
Thismeasurecanbe
usedtodeterminehowmanydifferenttypesofbrandidentifers
ormarksappearonthepagesofawebsite.Here,theoverall
meanistwobrandmarksperpage.Thismeansthat,onaver-
age,foreverypagethatachildclickson,heorsheisseeing
twodifferenttypesofbrandreminders(typicallyalogoandone
other).However,asshownbelow,thereisevidenceofsome
varianceintheextenttowhichdifferentformsofbrandidenti-
fersareused.
Box 2: Brand VarIants on sItes
numBer of Brand
VarIants (sKus)
percentaGe of
Brand/sIte paIrs
1 26%
2-10 43
11-20 16
21+ 15
Box 3: Brand IdentIfIers on sItes
types of Brand
IdentIfIers
17

percentaGe of
Brand/sIte paIrs
0 0%
1 36
2 41
3 16
4 7
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 '
Theobservedrangeisfrom1to4typesofbrandidentifers
perpage(withatheoreticalrangefrom0to6).Onsomesites,
therearefewertypesofbrandexposures(e.g.,for36%ofthe
brandsonlyasingletypeofindicatorispresentoneachpage),
while on others there are more (e.g., for 23% of the brands
threeormoretypesofidentifersappearperpage).Inspection
ofthedistributionofscoresthussuggeststhatthereisarange,
butthatitisrelativelyraretoencountersitecontentthatdoes
notcontainsomebrandreinforcement.
television commercials
The increasing popularity of the Internet and other new
mediaarepromptingchildrensadvertiserstorethinkhowthey
areallocatingtheirmarketingdollars(SteinbergandFlint2006).
To reach children effectively a more diverse array of media is
required than ever before. So, with regard to policy options,
considerationofthisnewmediaenvironmentiscrucial.Tech-
nological developments are also blurring the lines between
oneadvertisingmediumandanother.Forexample,television
commercialsarenowfrequentlyappearingonwebsites(Larson
2004). This is enabled by faster connection speeds, and in-
creasedbroadbandaccessthatallowsmarketerstoputvideo
ontheirsitesthatmanyvisitorscanreadilyaccess.
Amongthewebsitesinthisstudy,justoverhalf(53%)had
television commercials available for viewing.
18
These appear
moreoftenonchild-orientedsites(60%)thanonsitestargeted
at a more general audience (32%) (= 4.76, p<.03). Televi-
sioncommercialsappearwithequalfrequencyonthesitesthat
attract many young visitors relative to those whose audience
is smaller. Thus, there are many opportunities for children to
watchtelevisioncommercialsforfoodbrandsontheInternet(if
theychoosetoclickonthem).Fromamarketersperspective,
thisisanotherwaytotellyoungconsumersabouttheirbrands
positive features while also entertaining them. By combining
thesightsandsoundsoftelevision,thecreativepotentialofcy-
berspaceisenhanced.Marketersmayevenusethisasanop-
portunitytogetfeedbackfromsitevisitorsabouttheirtelevision
advertisements. For example, on Campbells mysoup.com,
childrenareaskedtoratethesoupcommercialstheysee.
Television commercials can be embedded among other
games and activities that children encounter on a website.
KelloggsFunKtownsite,forexample,isorganizedasacom-
munity with many activities available. One of the things that
children can do is to visit the town theater to see commer-
cialsfortheirfavoritebrands,watchmovietrailersormeetthe
!. 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
Kelloggsbrandcharacters.Achildcanearnstampsbyview-
ing the commercials if he or she is a registered member (site
registration possible only with parental permission). Stamps
canthenberedeemedtoplayspecialgamesonthesite.
So,theactivitiesonthewebsitereinforcethemessagein
the television ad, and vice versa. In terms of total exposure,
theInternetcapturesallofthequalitiesoftelevisionadvertising,
andthenoffersmore.
two key categories of advertising claims
Marketersmayalsoinformsitevisitorsabouttheirbrands
by making specifc claims about them. Here, one or more
claims were made for 83% of the study brands. Advertising
claims can be broadly defned as explicit statements about
the characteristics of a brand, its use or suggested users.
19

Twobroadclassesofclaimswerecodedinthisstudy:nutrition
claims,andwhatarereferredtohereasbrandbeneftclaims
(e.g., taste, convenience, variety). Specifc sub-categories of
claims within each of these two categories were derived, in
part,fromaFederalTradeCommission(FTC)studyofadvertis-
ing,nutrition,andhealth(IppolitoandPappalardo(2002).
20

Findingsrelatedtotheprevalenceofbrandbeneftclaims
are reported in the next section (detailed evidence regarding
nutritionalclaimsfollow).Overall,brandbeneftclaimsaccount
for80%ofallclaimsmadeonthewebsitesinthisstudy,and
nutritionclaimsrepresent20%ofthetotal.
1. brand beneft claims
Brand beneft claims range from sensory-based charac-
teristicsofthebrand(e.g.,taste,texture,appearance,aroma)
tonewbranddevelopments(e.g.,newfavorsorpackaging)to
suggestedusersorusagesituation(e.g.,greatforkids)toex-
perientialelementsemphasizingfunandfeelings.Thesekinds
ofclaimswerereadilyapparentonthesites.
Acrossthesample,over1,500beneftclaimswererecord-
ed:theseareorganizedinto13sub-categories.InTable4,the
frequencyofeachtypeofbeneftclaimislisted,andexamples
are provided. As shown, taste claims are the most common
type of claim, representing over 27% of the total. Claims fo-
cused on suggested uses or usage situations are also wide-
spread(13%),asareappealstofunandfeelings(10%).Com-
parativeappeals(1%),andprice-orientedclaims(1%)areused
muchlessfrequently.Thisisquiteconsistentwithearlystud-
iesoftelevisionadvertising(e.g.,Barcus1980).Price-oriented
andothertypesofinformationalappealshavetraditionallybeen
relatively rare during childrens television programming. This
patternseemstoholdforchild-orientedwebsitesaswell.
Beneft claims are not equally distributed across brands,
intended audiences or product categories. As shown below,
for79%ofthesampleoneormoreexplicitclaimsweremade.
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 !!
However, there is signifcant variation in the number of
claims reported (from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 160
claimsperbrand).Todetermineiftherearepatternsthatdistin-
guishbetweenbrandswithahighversuslownumberofclaims,
aseriesofcomparisonsweremadebyaudiencecharacteris-
tics,singleversusmulti-brandsitesandbyproductcategories.
Thisprovedtobequiteinteresting.

First,nodifferencesareapparentasafunctionofthenum-
berofsitevisitors.However,therearedifferencesasafunction
of audience type. When children and teens are the primary
audienceforasite,fewerclaimsaremade(mean=10.8),as
compared to those with a more general audience (mean =
24.7)(F=7.15,p<.009).Further,theseresultsmayactuallyun-
derstatethedifference,becauseonthesubsetofgeneralaudi-
encesitesthatcontainedaseparatechildrenssectiononlythe
claimsmadeinthatportionofthewebsitewerecounted.Thus,
marketers who are reaching out to adults as well as children
appear to emphasize selling claims to a greater degree than
thosecateringonlytoayoungaudience.However,itisthecase
thatfewerbeneftclaimsaremadeforthebrandsappearingon
themulti-brandsites(mean=7.5)relativetothosepromoting
asinglebrand(mean=19.8)(F=7.84,p<.006).Althoughthis
mayseemcuriousatfrstglance,itisthemulti-brandsitesthat
tendtohaveawiderarrayofgamesandotheractivitiesthatare
likelytobeofinteresttochildren.Takentogether,theseresults
suggest,atleastonarelativebasis,thatchildrenssitesareless
focusedonmakingspecifcclaimsabouttheirbrandsthanon
providingothersortsofentertainmentandpromotion.
Thevolumeofbrand-specifcclaimsseemstovaryacross
productcategoriesaswell.Thisislikelyafunctionofthegoals
thatindividualmarketershavefortheirwebsites,aswellasthe
competitionthattheyface.Table5reportsthenumberofben-
eftclaimsineachmajorfoodcategory.Themostusefulcom-
parativeindicatorisshowninthefourthcolumnbeneftclaims
perbrand(giventhatthereareadifferentnumberofbrandsin
eachcategory).Thereareapparentdifferencesacrossproduct
categories (e.g., beneft claims per bread and pastry brand =
58ascomparedtobeneftclaimsperbreakfastcerealbrand=
4).However,withoutknowingwhatamarketersspecifcobjec-
tivesare,itisdiffculttodeterminewhattheproductclassdiffer-
encesmightrefectinabroadersense.Theredoesappearto
beahighdegreeofconsistencyinthecategoriesofclaimsthat
areemphasized.For10ofthe12productcategories,taste
surfaces as one of the two most frequent claims used (not a
surprising result given the nature of the brands in the study).
Atthesametime,experientialaspectsofthebrandsarealso
beingemphasizedviasuggestedusagesituationsandappeals
thatconnectthebrandwithfunandexcitement.
Overall, it appears that children are being exposed to a
diverse and extensive array of brand-related information as
they surf through these sites, particularly when the results
for the brand identifers, television ads and beneft claims are
combined.Theseareallinadditiontothebrandappearances
thatoccurwithinthegames.Researchsuggeststhatwithout
evidence to the contrary, familiarity alone can infuence what
even an adult consumer comes to believe is true: this is re-
ferred to as the truth effect (Hawkins and Hoch 1992). For
theyoungchildrenwhovisitthesesites,thebrandisrepeatedly
reinforced and familiarity grows, all in the context of fun and
entertainment.
2. nutritional claims and Information
One of the options that food marketers have in creating
awebsiteistousethisspace,atleastinpart,toeducatesite
visitorsaboutthenutritionalqualitiesoftheirbrandsaswellas
how they may ft into a healthy lifestyle. In fact, it could be
arguedthattheInternethasuniquecapabilitiesasacommu-
nicationsmediumwhichmakeitparticularlywell-suitedforthis
purpose.Thecapacityforsight,sound,andanimationenables
creativeandexcitingcontent(muchliketelevision),andatthe
same time, detailed information can be presented to inform
and persuade (much like print media). As part of this study,
siteswereanalyzedtoseetheextenttowhichfoodmarketers
are using this medium for the purpose of providing nutrition
and health-related brand information. All occurrences of (1)
basicnutritionalinformation,(2)specifcnutritionclaims,and(3)
healthyeatingstrategiesoradvicewerecoded.Seventy-two
percentofthebrand/sitepairsincludedone or moreofthese
threetypesofdata.
BasicNutritionalInformation.Theresultsshowthatmany
marketers in this study (51%) are using their web space to
incorporate at least some basic nutritional information (e.g.,
nutrition facts, allergens, ingredient lists) about their brands.
It is more likely to appear on a site with a general audience
Box 4: Brand BenefIt claIms
numBer of
Brand BenefIt claIms
percentaGe of
Brand/sIte paIrs
0 21%
1-5 27
6-10 14
11-15 15
16-20 4
21+ 19
!. 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
(88%) than one that targets children and teens (38%), (F =
19.31p<.0001).Table6showsthetypesofbasicnutritional
informationprovidedonthesesites.Nutritionfacts(asfoundon
apackagelabel)arethemostfrequentlycommunicated(76%),
althoughothercategoriessuchasingredientlistsandallergens
arewell-representedaswell.Inadditiontothosespecifcally
listed, there were some additional items (listed as other
in the Table) that surfaced on individual sites. For example,
brand-specifc statements about an offerings ft within a low-
carbohydratedietorspecifcfoodgroup,alternativesavailable
fordiabeticsandabrandscertifcationaskosherareasample
of the kinds of information made available. A few marketers
(e.g.,hersheys.com,quakeraday.com)alsolistednutritionfacts
forrecipesprovidedontheirsites.Overall,itisreasonableto
concludethatmanymarketersareprovidingsometypeofbasic
nutritional information for consumers. Nutritional information
does take a number of different shapes or forms however,
dependingonthestrengthsofanindividualbrand.
NutritionClaims.Specifccategoriesofclaimswerecoded
inadditiontothenutritioninformation.InTable7,thefrequency
ofeachtypeofnutritionclaimislisted,andexamplesofeach
typeareprovided.Some380nutritionclaimsweremadeintotal,
across the 11 categories.
21
Nutrition claims were thus much
lesscommonoverallthanthebrandbeneftclaimsdiscussed
earlier(withjustunderfourbeneftclaimsappearingforevery
nutrition claim). As shown in the Table, vitamin and mineral
claims were the most frequently occurring category followed
bygeneralnutrientclaims.
22
Somecategoriesofclaimsalmost
neverappeared(e.g.,cholesterol,sodium).Nutritionclaimsare
not equally distributed across brands. As shown below, for
44% of the sample one or more explicit claims were made.
However,thereissignifcantvariationinthenumberofnutrition
claimsrecorded.
There are features that differentiate brands with more
claimsthanothers.Forexample,whenchildrenandteensare
theprimaryaudienceforasitefewernutritionclaimsaremade
(mean=2.4),ascomparedtothosewithamoregeneralaudi-
ence(mean=7.3),(F=3.68,p<.058).Itisalsothecasethat
fewer nutrition claims are made for the brands appearing on
themulti-brandsites(mean=1.0)relativetothosepromoting
a single brand (mean = 5.8) (F= 5.18, p<.03). Both of these
resultsarequiteconsistentwiththefndingsforbrandbeneft
claimsdiscussedearlier.Onarelativebasis,theyindicatethat
child-orientedsitesarelesscenteredonmakingexplicitbrand
claims(eitherbeneft-ornutrition-related)thanonotherforms
ofinformationandentertainment.
Thevolumeandtypeofnutritionclaimsdifferacrossprod-
uct categories as well as intended audience (to be expected
giventhenatureoftheproductsadvertised).Forexample,over
halfofallnutritionclaimsaremadeinthenon-carbonateddrink
category.Thisisdue,inpart,tothelargenumberofnutrition
claimsmadeformilk.Table8reportsthenumberofnutrition
claimsineachmajorfoodcategory.Notonlydoesthenumber
ofclaimsperbrandvary,butthetypeofnutritionclaimempha-
sizedinindividualproductcategoriesdiffersaswell(e.g.,total
fatincookiesandcrackersvs.caloriesinsoftdrinks).Although
notdepictedintheTable,acomparisonofTables5and8also
revealsthattheratioofbrandbenefttonutritionclaimsvaries
byproductcategory(e.g.,forcandyandgumthereareapprox-
imately25beneftclaimsforeverynutritionclaimmade,while
forsoftdrinksitisclosertoa1to1relationship).Careshould
be taken in interpreting the product results however, due to
thesmallsamplesizesinsomecategories.Evenso,itisclear
that the extent to which particular types of advertising claims
are being emphasized varies across these brands. Finally, it
appearsthatfrmsarelesslikelytogiveconsumersadviceor
tips about healthy eating strategies relative to brand-specifc
nutritionalclaimsorinformation.Moregeneraladviceabouteat-
ingahealthydietwaspresentononly27%ofthewebsites.
cUstoMIZInG tHe VIsItoRs eXPeRIence
Oneofthewaystoenhanceconsumerinvolvementisto
customizethewebsiteexperienceinsomeway.Customization
mayinvolvesomethingassimpleasallowingchildrentopost
theirgamescoresonthesiteorsendingane-cardtoafriend.
Itmayalsoincludeamembershiponthesiteorparticipationin
awebsitecommunity.Whatevertheform,itcanbeapositive
vehicleforamarketerhopingtoconnectwithyoungconsum-
ers. By engaging visitors in a personal way, the experience
islikelytobericherandmorememorable,andperhapsmore
likelytofosteranongoingbrandrelationship.
Box 5: nutrItIon claIms
numBer of
nutrItIon claIms
percentaGe of
Brand/sIte paIrs
0 56%
1-5 31
6-10 5
11-15 5
16+ 3
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 !`
Website Membership
Onceawebsiteiscreated,gettingvisitorstospendtime
onthesiteandtoreturnlaterisoneofthekeydiffcultiesthat
marketershaveencounteredinpromotingtheirbrandsonthe
Internet. A site that is able to attract visitors over and over
againisconsideredastickysite(OGuinnetal.2006).Suc-
cess in drawing repeat visitors depends on a number of fac-
tors including the content, its ease of use and entertainment
value.Newandexcitingcontentiscertainlyoneapproachfor
drawinganaudience.Membershipsthatofferadditionalincen-
tivesoraccesstospecialactivities,promotionsorgamesare
anotherwaytoencourageparticipation.Forexample,Wonkas
ClubDuboffersaccesstogames,apersonallyfavoredhome
page,specialscreensaversande-cards.
Forty-twopercentofthestudywebsitesofferedanoption
toregister,joinacluborbecomeamember.Severalofthese
membershipopportunitieswerenotmadeavailabletochildren
butwereopenonlytothosevisitorswhowereatleast13years
ofage.Asshown,childrenweregiventheoptiontobecomea
memberon25%ofthewebsitesinthestudy.
On a subset of these, children can become members
without providing much identifying information (12% of total
sample).Forexample,achildmaysimplybeaskedtocreate
ascreennameandpasswordwhentheybecomeamember.
Onthesesites,parentalpermissionisnotrequired.However,
thereareotherwebsites(13%oftotalsample)wherepersonal
informationisrequestedatregistration.Incompliancewiththe
ChildrensOnlinePrivacyProtectionAct(COPPA),
23
thecorpo-
ratesponsorsofthesewebsitesobtainverifableparentalper-
missionbeforecollectinganyidentifyinginformationfromchil-
dren.Oneofthreemechanismswasusedtoobtainparental
consentonthesesites:(1)emailsenttoparentwithresponse
Box 6: memBershIps
optIon proVIded for chIldren aGe 12 and under
to Become a memBer?
yes no
25% 75%
Is parental permIssIon requIred to reGIster?
13% 12%
!4 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
required,(2)emailsenttoparentwhothenneedstogotothe
site and provide credit card information (to verify their adult
status), or (3) written parental permission required. With one
exception,allofthemoreteen-orientedsitesofferedmember-
shipopportunities.However,youngerchildrenwereeithernot
permittedtoregisteratall(openonlytoages13+)orverifable
parentalpermissionwasrequiredinallofthesecases.
Membershipmayallowaccesstoavarietyofspecialsite
features and benefts. Illustrative examples are presented in
Figure3.Cautionininterpretationshouldbeusedheregiven
the small sample of sites that offer membership to children
(under 12). Some sites emphasize gaming enhancements to
theirmemberssuchasregularupdatesonnewgames,access
tospecialorsecretgames,bonuspowerorsecretlives
withinagameortheopportunitytoretainapersonalrecordof
highscoresand/orpostthemtoaleaderboard(e.g.,nabisco-
world.com). For example, on gushers.com visitors have the
opportunity to create and furnish their own room. On sub-
sequentvisits,thechildcanvisittheroomthatheorshehas
designedandupdateitasdesired.
Members may also be specially informed about new
developments on the site, such as new brands, exclusive of-
fersornewtelevisioncommercials.Promotionalentriessuch
assweepstakessometimesrequiremembershiporsiteregis-
tration.Onthemoreteen-orientedsites,membersmayeven
havetheopportunitytoposttheirideasoropinionsonthesite
(e.g.,mycoke.com).Thereareamultitudeofcreativeoptions:
notwositesarealike.

Although membership does provide additional benefts

andaccess,somevisitorsmaychoosenottoparticipate.This
raisesthequestionofwhatkindofwebexperienceisthenpos-
sible.Withveryfewexceptions,consumerswerestillpermitted
access to most site activities even if they chose not to regis-
ter. There were two key exceptions: both mycoke.com and
millsberry.comseverelyrestrictaccesstonon-members.Inthe
caseofCoke,unlessparentsprovidetheirpermissionthereis
verylittlethatchildrencandoonthesite.
Website communities
Some sites are organized as a place or community that
achildcanvisit.Itmaybeanisland(e.g.,AppleJacksCinna
Island),acharactershome(e.g.,Kool-AidMansHouse),atree
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 !'
house (e.g., Keeblers Hollowtree) or a town (e.g., Kelloggs
FunKtown). Approximately 25% of the study sites are of this
type.Onsomeofthese,visitorstravelthroughthesitealmost
as if they are welcome tourists. They are encouraged to ex-
plore different locations, and can stop to participate in many
activitiessuchasplayingagame,goingtothetheater(tosee
movie previews or television commercials), sending mail to a
friend, or learning about a brand character. Not all of these
sitesarecustomized.Thechildcanvisitandexplorethecom-
munitybuttheydosoprimarilyasanobserver.However,there
areothersinwhichthechildparticipatesnotasavisitorbutas
acitizenofthefancifulcommunity.Bydefnition,theserequire
registration or membership (and are included in the statistics
providedabove).Perhapsthemostelaborateoftheseonline
communitiesismillsberry.com.
Onthissite,achildcreatesacharacter(includinggender,
clothing,hairstyle),aneighborhoodinwhichtolive,aspecifc
house,anditsdcor.Thecharactercanshopatdifferentstores
(e.g.,grocerystore,bookstore,toystore,hairsalon),checkout
booksatthelibrary,visitthepostoffce,checktheiraccountat
thebank,visitthecommunitycenter,contributetoafooddrive,
and visit a museum. Games and a theater are also available
in the arcade. Millbucks are the currency: these are earned
byplayinggamesandcanbespentinthevariousstores.By
participatinginactivitieslikereadingalibrarybookormakinga
donation,thechildcharactercanincreasehisorherstrength,
ftness,intelligenceormerit.Thechildcharacterdoesgethun-
gryandmusteatinordertomaintainhisorherstrength(the
grocery store stocks a wide range of foods, from produce to
brandeditems).GeneralMillscerealsareembeddedinparts
ofthesite,buttherearemanysectorswherethereisnovisible
brandpresence.Overall,thewebsiteexperienceiscustomized
totheinterestsofthechildwhovisits.Othercommunitybased
sites(e.g.,nesquik.com,lunchables.com)havesomeofthese
featuresbuttendnottobeaselaborate.
Viral Marketing
Thereisextensiveresearchevidencesuggestingthatpeers
canbeanimportantsourceofinfuenceinpurchasedecisions
(e.g.,Moschis1987).Themorefavorabletheinformationanin-
dividualreceivesfromfriendsoracquaintances,themorelikely
heorshewilladoptaproductaswell.Thereisalonghistory
of research in marketing on the role of opinion leaders who
helptostimulatedemandbyofferingadviceandinformationto
others in their social network (Wilkie 1994). Recognizing the
powerofpersonalinformationsources,marketingpractitioners
have developed new approaches such as buzz marketing,
viralmarketing,anddiffusionmarketingtoencouragecon-
sumerstotalktooneanotherabouttheirproducts(e.g.,Dye
2000;KhermouchandGreen2001).Thesearetoolsusedto
trytoproactivelyinfuencewhatissaidaboutafrmsbrands,
!o 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
rather than simply hoping that positive word-of-mouth devel-
ops.ViralmarketingusestheInternettoencourageconsum-
erstomarkettooneanothereitherviablogsornewsgroups,or
throughpersonalcontact(email)stimulatedbyafrmsmarket-
ingefforts(Dobele,TolemanandBeverland2005).
Onetypeofviralmarketingencouragessitevisitorstosend
emailtofriendscontainingabrand-relatedgreeting(e-card)or
an invitation to visit the website. This occurred on approxi-
mately64%ofthewebsitesinthestudysample.Marketingef-
fortslikethisoneturnemailintoatypeofadvocacyorword-of-
mouthendorsementthatispassedalongfromoneconsumer
tothenext.Embeddedintheseemailsarenews,activitiesand
entertainmentthatarefavorabletothebrand.Likethewebsite
memberships,thisisawaytoincreaseavisitorsinvolvement
with a brand, and to customize the site experience for them.
These kinds of efforts were more prevalent on sites focused
on child- and teen-oriented activities (74%) as compared to
thosethatalsoincludedadultcontentaswell(32%)(=11.20,
p<.0008). On all of the more heavily visited sites, there was
anattempttoenlistfriends.
24
AsshowninTable9,themost
frequent activities targeted at friends were e-greetings, invita-
tions to the site and challenges or links to a specifc game.
These messages were highly brand-focused, containing the
brandname,logoandoftenabrandcharacteraswell.Insome
cases,thesenderisgiventheopportunitytoshapethedesign
of the message in some way such as choosing the layout or
background,thecolors,orthespecifctextinamessage.On
Keeblers Hollow Tree website, children are invited to send a
friendsomeElfnMagicorabirthdayorseasonalgreeting.
Ultimately,thefriendreceivesabrand-relatedcommunica-
tionthatispersonalizedtothem,andthesourceofthemes-
sage is someone they know and like. To participate in these
activities, a sender is typically asked to provide a friends frst
name(in84%ofcases)andemailaddress.Sothattherecipi-
entknowswhothemessageisfrom,thesenderalsoprovides
hisorherownfrstnameandemailaddress.(Note:Allofthe
sitesindicatedthatneitherthechildsnortheirfriendsinforma-
tionwouldberetainedonceamessageissent.)
other attempts to Personalize
In a small number of cases (13%), polls or quizzes
appearonthewebsites.Justbyvirtueofbeingasked,avisitor
isimplicitlytoldthathisorheropinionsmatter.Responsesare
reportedonlyintotal,andnopersonallyidentifyinginformation
isrequested.Pollsmayormaynotbebrand-related.Forex-
ample, on cuatmcdonalds.com, visitors are asked to vote for
thedollarmenuitemyoucravethemostandforyourfavorite
McDonalds IM icon character. On skittles.com visitors are
askedfortheirfavoritefavor,andthenshownthepollresultsfor
eachfavor.Inaddition,theyareencouragedtoaskfriendsto
votefortheirfavoritefavorandtocreatenewpollsonthesite
thatcanbesenttofriendsaswell.
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 !
Onothersites,however,(e.g.,lunchables.com,popsicle.
com),visitorsareaskedabouttopicssuchastheirfavoritetype
of music, things they like to do in the summer or how they
spendtimeontheweb,alltopicsthatarenottieddirectlytoa
specifc brand. In both cases (brand-related or not), children
are asked to voice their opinion or preference. Although this
maybeamoresubtlemeansofpersonalizingamessage,itis
awaytorepresentanindividualspointofview.
Overall, when collapsed across these various modes of
interacting with children, it is evident that a majority (73%) of
the websites incorporate some mechanism to customize the
sitevisitorsexperience.Itmaybeassimpleaspostinggame
scores or choosing a background color for site contents that
helpstomakethebrandinteractionsomehowunique.These
kindsofsitefeatureshelptodrawthevisitorin,simplybecause
the communication can be more closely tailored to individual
needsandinterests.Thereisakindofproximitytothemes-
sagethatwouldnotbethecasewithmassmedia.
MaRketInG PaRtneRsHIPs
Marketing partnerships, whether through sponsorships,
promotionsormediatie-ins,areacommonpracticeintodays
marketplace. When two brands collaborate, there are a
numberofpotentialadvantagesfromamarketingperspective.
Bothmaygaingreaterexposureorvisibilitywithintheirtarget
audience. When aligned well, each also has the opportunity
to capitalize on the positive brand associations consumers
have about their partner. And, the message itself may have
greater impact because there is more content or information
to be conveyed. Thus, there may be greater potential for
gainingattentionandgeneratingexcitement.Partnershipsare
also often cost-effective because advertising or promotional
expensescanbesharedbytwobrands.
TheInternetisareadilyaccessiblemediumforcommuni-
cating information about partnership or co-branded activities.
Thewebcanalsobeusedasanintegrativeplatformtobring
together disparate marketing communication tools effectively
(Aaker2002).Evidenceofbrandpartnershipswasreadilyavail-
ableonthewebsitesinthestudysample.Some90different
brandpartnerswereincorporatedinsweepstakes,premiums,
sponsorshipsandotherpromotions.Mostofthese(approxi-
mately70)werenon-foodbrands(e.g.,SixFlagsAmusement
Parks, Play Doh, Blockbuster Video, Little League Baseball,
HolidayInn).Theremainderwascomposedprimarilyoffood
brandsthatarenotpartofthepresentstudy(e.g.,TacoBell,
Dole, Quiznos). In a few cases, website promotions involved
all of the brands within a product portfolio (e.g., all Nabisco
brands)ofwhichthestudybrandsareonlyasmallsubset.A
numberofbrandpartnershipsalsosurfacedthroughmovieand
televisiontie-ins.
Media tie-Ins
Inthecurrentdebateaboutthemarketingoffoodtochil-
dren, some commentators have questioned whether it is ap-
propriate to link television shows or movies directly to food
brands (e.g., Center for Science in the Public Interest 2003).
Thisismostoftenaccomplishedviathedevelopmentofspe-
cialproductvariants(e.g.,SpongeBobMacaroni&Cheese),
!c 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
packaging changes (e.g., special Star Wars packaging for
M&Ms), promotions (e.g., free Robots the Movie racers in-
sidespeciallymarkedboxesofKelloggproducts)oradvertise-
ments. Underpinning these concerns is the assumption that
a food brand will be much more appealing to children when
it is associated with a well-liked TV or movie character. The
research results on this issue are somewhat mixed however.
Although there is some evidence suggesting that childrens
product choices shift when linked to a popular cartoon char-
acter(Kotler2005),thereisalsoempiricalevidenceintheaca-
demicliteratureindicatingthatchildrenschoicesareunaffected
(NeeleyandSchumann2004).Additionalresearchisneeded
to isolate the circumstances in which characters impact food
choicesandwhentheydonot.However,theevidenceiscon-
sistent in showing that children pay substantial attention to
these advertisements. They exhibit high levels of recognition
ofacartooncharacteranditsproductassociation,aswellas
liking for both the character and the advertised brand (e.g.,
Henke1995;Mizerski1995).
Forty-seven percent of the websites in this study incor-
poratedsomeformoftelevisionormovietie-in.Thus,media
partnershipswerearelativelycommonoccurrence.Thirty-one
percentofthesiteshadamovietie-in;25%hadalinktooneor
moretelevisionshows,and9%hadbothmovieandtelevision
ties. Brands were generally partnered with large blockbuster
movies popular in the summer of 2005. Figure 4 provides a
list of all of the flms that appeared on the sites in the study.
It was not uncommon for the same flm to be promoted by
multiplebrands.
25
Forexample,Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
wasinvolvedinmarketingactivitiesonsevendifferentwebsites.
So, there is the potential that a child may encounter multiple
promotionsinvolvingawell-likedmovieandheavilyadvertised
food brand as they visit different sites on the Internet. Simi-
larly,somewebsites(approximatelyone-thirdofthesiteswitha
movietie-in)hadconnectionswithtwoormoreflms.
Obviously,eachmovietie-inwillhaveitsowncreativestyle
and execution. Typically, they are part of a larger integrated
marketing communications effort, which extends beyond the
webpresence.Forexample,inthesummerof2005Marspart-
nered with the producers of Star Wars to create a multi-fac-
etedmarketingcampaign.Tohighlightthemovietie-in,Mars
createdtheChocolateMpirewithinitsM&Mswebsite.The
mpire is a fanciful world that links the movie and the M&M
brandinavarietyofways.ThereareStar Warsscreensavers,
wall-papers and e-cards that embed the M&M characters.
Television commercials and video that link to the movie are
alsoavailableforviewingonthesite.Special,themedproduct
packaging is highlighted, and a sweepstakes is incorporated
(althoughnotopentochildrenunder12).Childrencanplaythe
LightSaberTraininggameonthesiteanddownloadapaper
lightsaberiftheychoose.Together,theseelementsreinforce
theassociationbetweenthebrandandthemovieinacreative
andmemorablefashion.
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 !'
Television tie-ins with study brands were also evident (as
notedabove,presenton25%ofsites).Figure5providesalist
ofthetelevisionprogramsthatappearedonthesites.Slightly
morethanhalfofthesitesthathadaTVtie-inincorporatedtwo
ormorespecifcprograms:oneincludedasmanyasninedif-
ferentshows.
26
Thesetie-insappearindifferentways.Some-
timestheyareprimarilyanannouncementofspecialpackaging
(e.g.,NestlePop-UpswithScoobyDoopackaging).Inother
cases,theyaretiedinwithpromotions(e.g.,aprizefromNick-
elodeonforthePepperidgeFarmGoldfshsweepstakes),oras
arewardtomembers(e.g.,specialpreviewsfromMTVonthe
Starburstsite).Televisiontie-inscanalsobeusedtoeducate
orinform.Intheexampleabove,SpongeBobandthePower-
puffGirlshelptocommunicatethebeneftsofmilk.
Promotions and sponsorships
Oneofthemostprominentmanifestationsofbrandpart-
nerships on the sites is sales promotion. Consumer promo-
tionsareincentivesusedbyamanufacturertocreateapercep-
tion of greater brand value. The goal is to motivate product
trial, encourage the purchase of larger quantities, or foster
repeat purchases (OGuinn et al. 2006). Consumer promo-
tions can take many forms, including sweepstakes, contests,
premiums, sample offers, coupons, and rebates. Essentially,
theyareattemptsbymarketerstocreateexcitementandtoen-
courageconsumerstopurchasetheirbrandsratherthanthose
of a competitor. One or more of these types of promotions
appearedon65%ofthesitesinthestudy.Thisproportionmay
actually underestimate the frequency of occurrence because
promotions that appeared on the sites but that were exclu-
sivelytargetedatadultswerenotcoded.Fortypercentofall
websitesinthestudyhadasweepstakesorcontest,and31%
incorporatedapremiumoffer.Samples,rebatesandcoupons
weremuchlesscommon,appearingononly1%ofthesesites.
Promotional offers were equally well-represented on the sites
thatattractalargenumberofyoungvisitorsaswellasonthose
thatreachfewerchildren.

Sweepstakesareapopularpromotionaltoolamongmar-
keters.Approximately75%ofpackagedgoodsmarketersuse
sweepstakesandalmostone-thirdofU.S.householdspartici-
pateinoneeachyear(Shimp2007).Fromamarketersper-
spective,theyofferanumberofadvantages.Theyarerelatively
inexpensive,simpletoexecuteandcanhelpincreasedistribu-
tionatretail.Theyalsoattractconsumersattentionandcan
buildenthusiasmaboutabrandwhilereinforcingitsimage.The
sweepstakes and contests on the websites offer prizes that
are likely to generate substantial excitement among children.
For example, on the bubbletape.com site, winners receive a
Nintendo Game Cube System and on the pfgoldfsh.com
site,childrencanwinatriptotheNickelodeonStudiosinLos
Angeles,amongotherprizes.Campbellsmysoup.comhasan
ongoingseriesofSouperstarsweepstakese.g.,Souper-
starIsland(winatriptoaCaribbeanisland),SouperstarCas-
tle(winaweekatanEnglishcastle),SouperstarFantasy(win
atriptoamoviepremiere).Visitorsareencouragedtoreturn
tothesitetoseewhatthenextbigpromotionaleventwillbe.
Onsubway.com,childrenbetweentheagesof812havethe
opportunity to become a Subway Champion (with parental
permission).Winnersreceivea$10,000collegescholarship.
.. 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
Sweepstakes and contests involving children have some
uniquedimensionsasamarketingapproach.Thereisthepo-
tential that young children might develop unrealistic expecta-
tions about their chances of winning. Because this potential
is known to exist, the CARU (2003) self-regulatory guidelines
specify how promotional offers might best be communicated
tochildren.Byvirtueofthenatureofpromotionsthatappear
on study websites, parents are necessarily involved either to
enterand/ortoclaimaprize.So,childrenarenotparticipating
independently.

Asnotedabove,premiumoffersalsoappearonmanyweb-
sites(31%ofallsites).Thesearemerchandiseitemsofferedby
amanufacturerasagifttoconsumers,andlikesweepstakes
are used to try to stimulate product trial or encourage repeat
usage.Insomecases,thesepromotionsrequirethepurchase
of a product in order to take advantage of the premium of-
fer.Forexample,onHersheyskidztown.comsite,visitorswere
abletoobtainfreemovieticketsforthere-releaseofE.T.,but
multiplepurchasesofReesescandywererequiredtodoso.
Otherrequirementsmayalsobemade,thatdonotinvolve
abrandpurchase.OnChefBoyardeeschefboy.comsite,for
example,anofferofafreeChefBoyardeeSuperballismadeto
children.However,togettheballtheyneedtoberegisteredin
theChefClub(whichrequiresaparentspermission),andplay
agameonthesitethattheymustthenemailtoafriend.This
exampleillustrateshowpremiumofferscanbeusedtoencour-
age particular consumer behaviors, in this case, viral market-
ing.Sometimesthepremiumsinvolvemerchandisewhichmay
serveasabrandreminder(e.g.,aHersheyHappinessT-shirt
withthebrandlogoonthefront),andinotherstheydonot.So,
both the consumer and the marketer can beneft from these
offers. The consumer receives a desired item, and the mar-
keterbeneftsthroughpositiveimpactsonthebrandimage,its
infuenceasabrandreminder,andperhapsasamotivatorof
purchasebehavior.
eDUcatIonal content
Inadditiontothemanyotheractivitiesalreadynoted,some
marketers also use a portion of their site to provide content
with an educational emphasis. A number of different subject
areas were emphasized here, ranging from historical facts to
science, math, health, general nutrition and sports-related is-
sues.Forcodingpurposes,educationalmaterialwasdefned
asactivitiesthatdeveloptheknowledge,skillorcharacterof
site users on topics other than a food brand, its ingredients
ormanufacturer.Figure6listsexamplesofsomekeytopics.
Thirty-fvepercentofthesitescontainedoneormoretypesof
educationalinformation.Toillustrate,ononeoftheMcDonalds
sites(ronald.com),informationaboutdinosaursisincorporated
as shown in the picture above. Sites with a broad audience
were marginally more likely to incorporate educational mate-
rial(53%)thanthosefocusedmoreexclusivelyonchildrenand
teens(29%)(=3.42,p<.06).
Inaddition,thereiscontentonsomesitesthatappearsto
blurthelinebetweenadvertisingandeducation.Topicssuchas
thehistoryofabrandingredient,itsmanufacturingprocesses,
orusingabrandcharactertopresenteducationaltopicsmight
beincludedhere(e.g.,Twinkiesdescribeshowmuchvultures
like Twinkies, then mentions facts about vultures). This kind
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 .!
of borderline educational material or advercation was also
codedandillustrativeexamplesareprovidedinFigure7.For
example, on Kelloggs FunKtown site, information is provided
about the Tonymobile, its basic engineering and construc-
tion.Similarly,Hersheysprovidesinformationaboutthemak-
ing of chocolate, including a video tour on its hersheys.com
website,whichwasalsodirectlylinkedtokidztown.com.One-
thirdofthesitesinthestudyincorporatedthistypeofcontent,
inwhicheducationalinformationisembeddedinanadvertising
message.
Foryoungchildrenwhoareinthemidstoflearningtodis-
tinguishbetweenadvertisingandothermodesofcommunica-
tion,thishassomepotentialtocauseconfusion.Thereisclear
evidence in the academic research literature indicating that
childrenneedtoacquireatleasttwokeyinformationprocess-
ingskillstoevaluateadvertisingeffectively.First,theymustbe
able to distinguish between commercial and non-commercial
content.Second,theymustbeabletorecognizeadvertisings
persuasive intent and use this knowledge to interpret selling
messages.
Oncechildrendeveloptheseskillstheyarethoughttobe-
comemoreskeptical,andthusmorecapableofresistingad-
vertisingsappeal(e.g.,Boush,FriestadandRose1994).How-
ever,academicresearchershaveshownthatchildrenwhohave
thecognitiveskillstodiscountcommercialmessagesmaynot
dosowhentheyseeanadunlesstheyareexplicitlyreminded
(Brucks,ArmstrongandGoldberg1988).Ifthelinesbetween
advertisingandeducationalcontentbecomeblurred,thismay
taxayoungchildsabilitytodisentangleandthenevaluatethe
sellingmessage(Moore2004).
eXtenDInG tHe onlIne eXPeRIence
Therearemultipleapproachesthatamarketermightuse
toextendavisitorsonlineexperience.Perhapsthemostbasic
istolinkthewebsitetootherbrand-relatedadvertising.Inter-
netadvertisingisreadilyintegratedwithotherformsofmedia
advertisingandpromotion.Atthemostbasiclevel,eachform
of traditional media advertising can list a website URL. For
example,incorporatingawebsiteaddressinatelevisioncom-
mercialorlistingitonaproductpackagearesimpleandeasily
executedapproaches(asnotedearlier,websiteURLswerelist-
edonover50%ofthebrandpackagesinthestudysample).
Making television commercials available for viewing on a
websiteisanotherwaytolinkmultipleadvertisingmedia.As
part of an integrated marketing communications plan, these
brandmessagesarelikelytobebetterrecalledandmoreper-
suasivewhentheyappearinmultipleadvertisingvenues(e.g.,
NaikandRaman2003;ShultzandSchultz2004).
.. 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
Provision of extra brand-Related Items
There are other methods that marketers may use to try
to extend the childs online experience. One way is to pro-
vide brand-related content that children can keep once they
leave the site. These are items that can be downloaded, or
printedandsaved.Insomecases,suchextrasmayprovide
theopportunityforabrandmessagetobereinforcedoveran
extendedperiodoftime.Itcanbeaveryeffectivewaytoretain
abrandpresencebeyondtheInternet,andappearstobequite
common. Among the brands investigated here, 76% offered
atleastoneextraitem.Asshownbelow,52%offeredtwoor
more.
Theseextrascantakeavarietyofforms(approximately
70inthisstudy),manymorethanwereanticipatedattheout-
set of this research. To better convey the range of options
available, they have been organized into 10 categories, and
are summarized in Figure 8. Although most of the items ap-
peartobefocusedonplayorentertainment,afewincorporate
an educational dimension. As shown in the Figure, the most
commontypeofextrawasadesktopfeaturesuchasabrand
wallpaper,screensaver,ordesktopicon(representing39%of
allitems).Brandreminderssuchaspicturesofbrandcharac-
tersorlogoswerealsocommonplace,aswerebrand-related
artactivities,gamesandtoys.
Lessfrequent(althoughpresentformultiplebrands)were
healthandwellnessactivities,whichcenteredonexercisetips
orinformation.Avarietyofotheractivitiessuchaspartyplan-
ningandshoppinginducementswerealsoobserved,butonly
inasmallnumberofcases.
On the basis of the study sample, it thus appears that it
isaverycommonpracticeamongmarketerstocreatebrand-
relatedactivitiesdesignedtoextendbeyondthesitevisit.These
activities are wide-ranging, and typically very brand-centered.
Box 7: Brand-related extras
numBer of extras
offered
percentaGe of
Brand/sIte paIrs
0 24%
1 24
2-4 37
5+ 15
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 .`
As a result, they have the capacity to reinforce and augment
thebrandmessagechildrenseeonline.Inessence,thebrand
exposurecannowfowintothechildseverydaylife.
forging links to Product consumption
Anotherwaythattheonlineexperiencecanbeextended
isbycreatingalinkbetweentheweb-basedcontent,andthe
actualconsumptionofthebrand.Ratherthansimplyproviding
moreadvertisinginformationorentertainmentviatheInternet,
themarketermayattempttousetheonlinepresencetodirectly
encourageproductusage.
One approach that a marketer might use to connect an
onlineexperiencetoabrandisthroughtheofferofspecialin-
centivesorrewardsthatareobtainedintherealworld.For
example,onbubbletape.comsitevisitorscangetfreeNintendo
gametipsbyenteringcodesfromspeciallymarkedpackages
of Bubble Tape gum. Similarly, on sillyrabbit.millsberry.com
childrenareencouragedtousethecodefromspeciallymarked
boxes of Trix cereal to save their game score in the Hall of
Fameonthewebsite.Incentivessuchasthesecanbeused
to strengthen the consumers relationship with a brand, pro-
motebrandloyalty,aswellasenlivenawebsiteexperience.
Inthisstudy39%ofthesitesofferedprogramsthatencour-
ageconsumerstoaccumulatebrandpoints,codes,stampsor
universalproductcodelabels(UPCs)offine.Table10shows
howthesepointscanbeusedoncetheyarecollected.Among
the brands that offer these rewards, the vast majority (97%)
offerpointsthatconsumersobtainfromtheproductpackage
(38%ofallstudysites).
Thus, in almost all cases where a points program is of-
fered,itisnecessaryforaconsumertopurchasethebrandin
ordertotakeadvantageofarewardsspecialbenefts.Byre-
quiringmultiplepointsortokens,themarketerhopestoestab-
lishapatternofrepeatpurchase,andultimatelycommitmentto
thebrand.Althoughparentstypicallyactasgatekeepersina
purchasedecision,thereisextensiveevidencetosuggestthat
even young children can exert substantial infuence over the
productchoicesthataremadewithinahousehold(e.g.,Galst
andWhite1976;Isler,PopperandWard1987).
In the study sample, the web presence was used to fa-
cilitate consumption in two essential ways. One approach
was to use the website simply as a vehicle to communicate
information about promotions, merchandise discounts, or
premiums that are obtained off-line. So, premiums such as
brandedclothingortoysthatcouldbeearnedbysavingUPCs
.4 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
mightbeadvertisedonawebsite.Detailsareprovidedasto
whatrewardsorprizescanbeearned(orwon),buttheactual
redemptiontakesplaceoffine(typicallyviathemail).
27
Inthis
case, the web is used primarily to inform consumers of the
promotionalofferandpersuadethemtoparticipate.Thisap-
proach was apparent on half of the sites that incorporated a
pointcollectionprogram(19%ofallsites).Theleftcolumnof
Figure9illustratesthekindsofitemsconsumersareaskedto
collectandtherewardsavailable.
Asecondapproachusedtoencourageproductconsump-
tiontiesmoredirectlytothewebsitesthemselves.Onapproxi-
mately one half of the sites with a points offer (or 20% of all
study websites), rewards are redeemed or entries are input
online.Consumersareencouragedtocollectcodesorgame
piecesfromaproductpackagewhichtheycanthenenteron
the website to gain access to a reward. Here, the website
becomes the actual purveyor of the reward. So, the link is
forgeddirectlybetweenproductuseandrewardsreceivedon
thewebsite.AsshownintherightcolumnofFigure9,visitors
maygainaccesstodownloadableitems(e.g.,specialscreen-
savers), earn additional customizable features on the website
(e.g., items for your room on the site), acquire the chance
toplaynewgamesoradvancedlevelswithingames,orenter
promotionstowinprizes.Eachoftheseislikelytobeattractive
tochildren.
Oneofthewebsitesthatincorporateapointsprogramis
postopia.com,whichpromotesPostchildrenscereals.Thisis
acreative,fancifulandanimatedworldinwhichtherearemany
activities and games to play (at the time the site was coded,
thereweremorethan40uniquegamescontainingtwostudy
brands).
28
Given this emphasis, most of the rewards involve
gamingenhancements.Childrenobtainpostokensfromthe
insidefapofacerealbox.Ontheoutsideofthepackage,there
is a picture letting potential purchasers know that postokens
arecontainedinside.Tokensarethenenteredonthewebsite.
Childrenusetheonlinecoinstounlocksecretlevelsorextra
lives as well as to gain access to special activities. For ex-
ample,accesstospecialtelevisionbloopersforNickelodeons
Fairly Odd Parentsisavailableonlytothosewhohavetokens
toredeem.
29

Through these kinds of activities, the marketer has the

opportunity to establish a direct connection between the
entertainment on the website and actual consumption of the
brand.Whenmultiplecodesorpointsarerequired,thereisan
attempttopromoterepeatbrandusage,andithelpstocreate
repeatvisitstothewebsiteaswell.Fromachildsperspective
thereisnowatangiblelinkbetweenwhatbrandtheychoose,
andthefunheorshehasonawebsite.Thereissomeresearch
evidenceindicatingthatthismaybeapowerfulreinforcement.
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 .'
Olderchildren(1112yearolds)mayactuallybemoreattentive
totheentertainmentprovidedbyanadvertisementthanyounger
children (78 year olds), and more likely to allow it to shape
their perceptions of product usage (Moore and Lutz 2000).
So,whenthesiteisentertaining,thebrandmayseemtotaste
better.
expanding Usage occasions with new Recipes
Because of its capacity to provide detailed content, the
Internetcanbeaneffcientandcost-effectivemediumforcon-
veyingnewinformationaboutabrandanditspotentialuses.In
additiontoenlargingmarketdemandbyattractingnewusers,
frms may also try to increase revenues by encouraging new
usesormorefrequentconsumptionamongexistingusers.
Onewaythatfoodmarketerscanencourageadditionalin-
terestintheirbrandsisbyprovidingconsumerswithnewand
appealing recipes. Not only do consumers appreciate these
efforts,butmarketershavetheopportunitytoexpandpotential
usageoccasionsfortheirbrand.Alikelybyproductisincreased
consumerinvolvementwiththebrand.Approximately23%of
thesampleprovidedrecipesfeaturingthatbrandasaningredi-
ent.
30
For some of these brands, a huge number of recipes
appear:therewaswidevariability,rangingfromalowoftwoup
toamaximumof218recipesperbrand,withanaverageof34.
Theavailabilityofnutritionalinformationandtherecipeseaseof
preparation(oraccessibilitytochildren)werealsostudied.
Theseresultssuggestthatwhenrecipesareoffered,there
isgenerallyanefforttomakethisactivityoneinwhichachild
mightparticipate.Giventhetypesofbrandsunderinvestiga-
tioninthisstudy,recipeswerenaturallylimitedtoasubsetof
product categories (e.g., breads and pastries, candy, cereal,
cookies/crackers, non-carbonated drinks, other snacks, pea-
nutbutterandjelly,andsoftdrinks).Thismayaccountinpart
forthelowerrateofnutritionalinformationprovided.Notsur-
prisingly, recipes were more common on sites with a general
audience(64%)relativetothosethatfocusmoreexclusivelyon
childrenandteens(11%)(=30.09,p<.0001).
links to other Websites
Marketersmayalsoextendthebrandexperiencebycreat-
inglinkstootherwebsites.Thisoccurredon92%ofthestudy
websites. When a visitor begins to follow one of these links,
it is often the case that a brief message pops up reminding
thevisitorthatyouareleavingourwebsite(coupledwithan
optiontochangehisorhermind).Itwouldappearthatthese
remindersareintendedtohelpchildrenusecareinnavigating
across websites. There are a number of reasons why these
links are provided. For example, visitors may be re-directed
toamaincompanywebsiteforadditionalinformationabouta
brand, the company, a privacy policy, additional recipes, cur-
rentpromotionsortoaskquestions.Linkstootherfoodbrand
sitesarealsousedtocreateawarenessofadditionalofferings
andtostimulatetraffc.
Overall,84%ofthesitesinthestudyprovidedlinkstoone
or more additional food-related sites. Links may also be fur-
nishedtononfood-relatedsiteswherevisitorscanlearnabout
or purchase promotional merchandise (e.g., products offered
byanexternalpartner),thatmayormaynotbebrand-related.
Thisoccurredon70%ofthewebsites.
Alternatively,linksmaybegiventoindependentwebsites
with an educational purpose. For example, on Kool-aid.com
alinkismadetotheAmericanDiabeticsAssociationwebsite.
Links to educational sites were found on 30% of the sites in
thestudy.Intotal,manydifferentkindsoflinksareprovidedto
helpconsumersfndfurtherinformationoractivitiesofparticu-
larinteresttothem.Bypursuingtheselinks,visitorshavethe
opportunitytoenrichtheirsiteexperience,andmarketersmay
havethechancetoextendtheirbrandpresence.
Box 8: onlIne recIpes
amonG the Brands that haVe recIpes, are any
recIpes chIld frIendly? (I.e., can Be prepared
wIthout adult assIstance)
yes no
80% 20%
do recIpes Include nutrItIonal InformatIon?
40% 60%
.o 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
WebsIte PRotectIons foR cHIlDRen
Given childrens status as a vulnerable audience, key
stakeholders agree that advertising targeting this group must
be conducted in a fair and responsible manner. Young chil-
dren are readily persuaded because they do not yet possess
thecognitiveskillsthatenablethemtofullyevaluateadvertising
messages(seee.g.,John1999forareview).Anyadvertising
targeted at this group thus needs to take into account their
level of maturity, sophistication and knowledge. This basic
premise is acknowledged by marketers, and is in fact one of
thefoundationalprinciplesintheChildrensAdvertisingReview
Unitsself-regulatoryguidelines(CARU2003).
Becausetelevisionhasbeentheprimaryadvertisingmedi-
umusedtoreachchildrenovertheyears,protections(whether
governmental regulations or self-regulatory efforts) have fo-
cused primarily on that medium. However, the technological
capacityoftheInternetallowsfornewmodesofcommunica-
tion,andasaconsequencetheneedforuniqueformsofpro-
tections may arise. To date, the primary emphasis has been
placedonprotectingchildrensonlineprivacyviatheChildrens
OnlinePrivacyProtectionAct(COPPA).
At the same time, CARU has instituted a set of general
guidelines (in addition to privacy issues) to advise advertisers
on how to communicate with children in an age appropriate
wayontheInternet(seeCARU2003).CARUcontinuestore-
vise and update these guidelines as new uses and potential
concernsaboutthismediumemerge.Thus,thedevelopment
of existing protections in this area refects an ongoing effort,
andonethatislikelytocontinueintheforeseeablefuture.
Oneofthegoalsofthisstudywastoexaminethekindsof
protective mechanisms that are already in place on the web-
sites. Three primary types of approaches were identifed: (1)
privacyprotectionsandageblocks,(2)provisionofinformation
forparents,and(3)adbreaksorreminderstochildrenabout
thepresenceofadvertisingonthesite.

Privacy Protections and age blocks

Asnotedearlierinthediscussionofmembershipopportu-
nities,marketersarecarefultoscreenchildrenundertheageof
13whennecessary.Somesitesdonotrequestanyinforma-
tionatallfromthosewhowanttoperusethesite(fromeither
adults or children) (e.g., Hersheys kidztown.com), so there is
noage-screeningmechanism.Otherscollectonlyverybasic
identifying information, such as a screen name to recognize
sitevisitors,orafrstname,andemailaddressthatisusedonly
oncetosendane-cardorgreeting.Stillotherssimplyexclude
children under 13 from participating in a site activity such as
registeringonthesite,enteringasweepstakesorpurchasinga
productonline.Onallsitesinthisstudywherepersonaldata
is requested and children are permitted to participate, some
mechanismisinplacetomakesurethatyoungchildrendonot
submit any personal information without parental permission.
Forexample,toobtainapassport(register)onKelloggsFunK-
townsiteaparentorguardianmustinputacreditcardnumber,
thusmakingitquitediffcultforachildtosubverttheprocess.
Some websites do an age check (by asking for the visitors
birthday)andthenrequestaparentsemailaddressifthechild
isunderthirteenyearsold.
Information for Parents
Virtuallyallofthesitesinthestudy(97%)providedsome
informationexplicitlylabeledforparents.Typically,therewasa
separatetabonthesiteshomepagethatdirectedvisitorsto
a special section in which parental information was included.
In many cases, this information was directly linked to the site
rather than on the site itself. Thus, it was readily accessible
(andhenceincludedinthecountshere).
Avarietyoftypesofinformationwereincludedontheweb-
sites. Table 11 lists each of the types and their frequency of
occurrence. As shown in the Table, among the sites that do
provideinformationforparents,themostcommonformspeci-
fedwhatinformationis(orisnot)tobecollectedfromchildren
(96%).Thus,sitesthatstatetheirpolicyeitherthroughanex-
plicitstatementofthetypesofdatatheycollectfromchildren,
orastatementindicatingthatnoinformationiscollectedfrom
children on the site are included in this total. In either case,
parentsareexplicitlynotifed.
Legal information and disclaimers are also present on
most sites (91%), as were statements about the use (or not)
of cookies
31
(84%). Explicit statements about compliance
with COPPA regulations were found on 76% of the websites
and 47% specifed adherence to CARUs guidelines.
32
Less
commonweretipsonchildrensInternetsafety(35%).Gener-
ally speaking, it is reasonable to conclude that there is useful
information available for parents if they choose to review site
policies.Tosupplementtheseefforts,manyofthesites(87%)
also provide an additional mechanism for parents to contact
thefrmiftheyhavequestionsorconcerns(typicallyacontact
uslinkand/oramailingaddressandphonenumber).
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 .
ad break Reminders
One of the long standing concerns about childrens pro-
cessingoftelevisionadvertisinghascenteredontheircapacity
to distinguish between editorial and advertising content. To
help children make this distinction, the Federal Communica-
tions Commission (FCC) prohibits program-length commer-
cialsandhostselling(FederalCommunicationsCommission
2006).Thesepoliciesareintendedtoavoidmisleadingyoung
audience members who may be confused when commercial
charactersorproductsareembeddedintheprogramsthem-
selves.TheFCChasalsotraditionallyrequiredthatadvertisers
insertcommercialseparatorsinprogrammingintendedforchil-
dren(Kunkel2001).Theseareshortsegments(approximately
fve seconds) shown before and after commercial breaks de-
signed to remind children when they are watching advertise-
ments,andtoencouragethemtobemorevigilantinhowthey
processthecommercialmessages.
On the Internet, the boundaries between advertising and
othercontentmaybehardertodistinguish.Therearenotthe
naturalbreaksbetweencommercialandnon-commercialcon-
tentwhichtypifytelevision.Thus,thereisgreaterpotentialto
blurthelinesbetweenadvertisingandentertainment.And,the
need to remind children when they are looking at advertising
stillexists.Infact,CARUsguidelines(2003)doseemtosug-
gest that advertising content should be clearly identifed as
suchonproduct-drivenwebsites(p.8).Someadvertisersin
our sample attempt to provide such reminders. However, it
appearstheyareintheminority.
Onthesitesthatdoprovideareminder,mostbothdefne
what it means, and present it on multiple locations within the
site.Forexample,postopia.comrepeatsthereminderonev-
erypageofitsextensivewebsite.Thesereminderscantakea
varietyofforms:examplesareprovidedinFigure10.Itshould
be recognized however that no published research yet exists
that shows how effective these ad break reminders are for
children.Asresearchonthistopicdevelops,naturalquestions
arise with regard to the format(s), size and placement of re-
mindersthatareworthpursuing.
sUMMaRY anD conclUsIons
Thisstudyisthefrstsystematicanalysisofthecontentof
onlinefoodmarketingtochildren.Thefocushereisononeas-
pectoftheonlineenvironment,corporatewebsitesthateither
targetchildrendirectlyorcontaincontentthatwouldlikelytobe
ofinteresttoyoungchildren(uptoage12).Ouranalysisshows
thatthemajorityoffoodbrandsadvertisedtochildrenontelevi-
sionarealsopromotedtothemontheInternetthroughthese
websites. Among an initial set of 96 food brands (selected
becausetheyareamongtheheaviestadvertisersoffoodsdur-
ing childrens television programming), 85% had a corporate
or brand website that would likely appeal to this young audi-
ence.
33
There are other methods that may also be used to
reachthisaudiencesuchasonlineadvertisingthatappearson
popularchildrenswebsites(e.g.,nick.com,neopets.com)and
adsplacedinexistingvideogamesthatarebeyondthescope
ofthepresentstudy.
To investigate food marketers websites in-depth, a con-
tentanalysisof82foodbrandsappearingon77differentweb-
sitesandmorethan4,000uniquewebpageswasconducted
(becausesomebrandsappearonmultiplesitesthefnalsample
includes a total of 107 brand/site pairs). The study websites
wereeasytofnd.Asanexample,over50%listedthewebsite
addressontheproductpackage.Thesesitescontaingames
and other activities that signifcantly expand childrens expo-
suretobrand-relatedcontentbeyondwhattheymightseeina
30-secondtelevisionad.
The technology of the Internet has enabled creative new
forms of marketing communication including advergaming
(video games that embed brand messages within them).
Among the websites in this study, 73% included at least on
advergame(rangingfromaminimumofonegamepersitetoa
maximumof67).Intotal,morethan500gamescontainingone
ormorefoodbrandswereavailableonthestudywebsites.
34
At
leastonetypeofbrandmarkoridentifer(e.g.,brandcharacter,
productpackage,fooditem,brandlogo)wasincludedin97%
of the games analyzed in the study, and was prominent in at
least64%ofthem.Inadditiontothebrandexposuresduring
gameplay,therewasanaverageoftwotypesofbrandidenti-
fersonallotherpageswithinawebsite.So,whetherchildren
areplayingagameorengaginginotherwebsiteactivities,there
isevidenceofcontinuingbrandexposure.
Box 9: ad BreaKs
ad BreaK or ad alert proVIded for chIldren?
yes no
18% 82%
If yes, Is the ad BreaK shown on multIple
locatIons wIthIn the sIte?
79% 21%
.c 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
Beyondthegames,therewasawidevarietyofbrand-re-
latedcontentavailablesuchastelevisioncommercials,media
tie-ins, promotions, viral marketing and website membership
opportunities. Fifty-three percent of all study websites had
televisioncommercialsavailableforviewing.Almosthalf(47%),
incorporatedamovie(e.g.,Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)or
televisionshowtie-in(e.g.,NickelodeonsFairly Odd Parents).
Promotions (e.g., sweepstakes, premiums or free gifts) that
may be of interest to children are also a common feature in
theonlineenvironment,appearingfor65%ofthebrandsinthe
study. However, by virtue of the nature of these promotions
childrencannotparticipatewithouttheassistanceorpermis-
sionofparents.
Viralmarketingisalsoincorporatedwithinmanywebsites
to encourage children to talk to one another about a brands
website.Onapproximately64%ofthesites,childrenaregiven
the opportunity to send email to friends in the form of an e-
greetingorinvitationtovisitthesite.Thesemessagesaretypi-
cally highly brand-focused, containing a brand name, logo or
brandcharacter.Emaileffortssuchastheseareawaytocus-
tomizethesitevisitorsexperience.Websitemembershipsare
another. On 25% of the study websites, children are offered
theoptiontobecomeamember(note:whenpersonalinforma-
tionisrequested,parentalpermissionisrequired).Membership
mayallowaccesstospecialsitebeneftssuchasgamingen-
hancements(e.g.,newgames,bonuspoweringames),sneak
peeksatnewbrand-relatedcontent(e.g.,specialoffers,new
favors,celebrities)oropportunitiestocustomizesomeportion
ofthewebspace(e.g.,createmyroomonthesite).
Theonlinespacemayalsobeusedtomakespecifcad-
vertisingclaimsaboutabrand,ortoprovidesometypeofedu-
cationalmaterial.For83%ofthebrandsinthisstudy,oneor
more specifc advertising claims were made. These may be
eitherbeneftclaimsrelatedtoattributessuchataste,popular-
ityoruse(e.g.,AmericasfavoritefruitygumfromJuicyFruit)
or nutrition claims (e.g., 30% less sodium than our cheddar
goldfsh, from Pepperidge Farm). Beneft claims are much
morecommon,accountingfor80%ofallclaimsmade.Apart
fromspecifcadvertisingclaims,27%ofthesitesoffergeneral
adviceabouteatingahealthydiet,and51%provideinforma-
tion such as nutrition facts, ingredient lists, or allergens. Ad-
ditionaleducationalinformationisprovidedon35%ofthesites
on topics ranging from historical facts, dinosaurs, astronomy,
sportsorgeographytogeneralnutritionandhealth.Examples
of adveraction, defned here as the blending of advertising
andeducation(e.g.,funfactsaboutanimalsonapagewhere
animalcharactersaresaidtoloveHostesssnacks)alsoap-
pearon33%ofthestudywebsites.
Marketingofferscanbedevelopedtotrytoextendabrand
experiencebeyondaninitialwebsitevisit.Oneapproach,em-
ployedon39%ofthestudywebsites,istoencourageconsum-
erstocollectbrandpoints,universalproductcodelabels(UPCs)
orstampsbypurchasingspecifcbrands.Oncethepointsare
collected,theycanbeusedforavarietyofpurposessuchas
participatinginpromotions,gainingaccesstonewgames,or
inthepurchaseofbrand-relatedmerchandise.Throughthese
kindsofincentivesadirectlinkiscreatedbetweenwebcontent
andtheconsumptionofaparticularfoodbrand.
Asecondapproachthatamarketermightusetoextend
the website experience is to provide brand-related items that
canbedownloadedorprintedandsaved.Amongthebrands
inthisstudy,76%offeredatleastoneextraitem(over50%
offeredtwoormore).Theseitemscantakemanyformssuch
asbrand-relatedscreensaversorwallpaperforachildscom-
puter,picturesofbrandcharactersorpackages,artsandcraft
activities (e.g., Popsicle Stick Art) or toys (e.g. printable surf-
board). Functioning as brand reminders, these extras have
thecapacitytoreinforceandamplifytheproductmessagechil-
drenseeonline.
Marketers recognize that children are a vulnerable audi-
ence and that advertising targeting this group must be con-
ductedinafairandresponsiblemanner.Thisisafundamental
principleoftheCARU(2003)self-regulatoryguidelines.Some
websiteprotectionsforchildrenarecurrentlyinplace.Because
the Internet enables new and evolving methods of communi-
catingwithchildren,theneedforuniquetypesofprotectionsfor
childrenmayarise.On97%ofthestudywebsitestherewasin-
formationspecifcallydesignedforparents.Amongthesesites,
most (96%) specify what information is to be collected from
children(ifany),andalargemajorityprovidelegalinformation
(91%), state their compliance with COPPA regulations (76%),
andtheirmanagementofcookies(84%)amongotherinfor-
mation.Themarketersinthisstudywerealsocarefultoobtain
parental permission if personal information was requested for
anyreason(e.g.,toparticipateinapromotion,tobecomeasite
member).Therewerenoexceptions.
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 .'
On the Internet, the boundaries between advertising and
other content may be harder for a child to distinguish. This
mediumdoesnothavethenaturalbreaksbetweencommercial
and non-commercial content which typify television. Yet, the
need to remind children when they are looking at advertising
still exists. Some advertisers provide children with reminders
ontheirwebsites(e.g.,HeyKids,ThisisAdvertising!)toen-
couragethemtorecognizethesellingintentembeddedinthe
sitecontent.However,itappearsthattheseadvertisersarein
the minority. Only 18% of the advertisers in our sample pro-
videsuchadbreakreminders.Itshouldbenoted,however,
thatthereisnopublishedresearchcurrentlyavailableindicating
howeffectivetheseremindersmay(ormaynot)be.
Collectively,theresultsofthisstudyindicatethattheworld
in which children encounter advertising is changing rapidly.
Althoughtelevisionremainsaprimarymarketingtooltoreach
children,Internetuseamongyoungchildren(ages211)isex-
panding rapidly (Larson 2004). Even very young children are
gaining computer experience. Sixty-six percent of children
(ages46)liveinhomeswithInternetaccess,and70%have
used a computer in some way (Rideout et al. 2003). At the
sametime,itisimportanttonotethateventhemostpopular
websitesdonotcurrentlyattractthesamenumberofchildren
as the most popular childrens television programs (see e.g.,
The New York Times,April2006).Yet,inthisdynamictechno-
logicalenvironment,consumers,includingyoungchildren,are
modifyingtheirmediause,asexcitingandentertainingcontent
becomesavailable.
Internet usage rates are not static, nor are they likely to
be for some time. Recent studies suggest that new media
such as the Internet are not displacing television viewing but
rather supplementing it (Montgomery 2001; Roberts et al.
2005).Childrenaredoingmoremediamulti-taskingorusing
multipletypesofmediasimultaneously.Thisnewmediaenvi-
ronmenthasalsoblurredthelinesbetweenthetypesofmedia
atamarketersdisposal,sothattelevisionadvertisementsand
video can now be viewed on the Internet. The result is not
simplymediaproliferation,butpermeableboundariesbetween
traditionalandemergingadvertisingvehicles.
Althoughyoungchildrenaremodifyingtheirbehaviortoin-
corporatenewmediaofferings,researcheffortshavenotkept
pace.Littleisknownaboutwhatchildrenunderstand,believe,
ordoasaconsequenceoftheirexposuretobrandmessagesin
thisnewmarketingenvironment.Withthesignifcantincrease
inlevelsofobesityamongchildren,questionsarebeingraised
abouttheimpactoffoodmarketing.Thisstudyisintendedto
be a frst step towards understanding the nature and scope
oftheonlineenvironmentchildrenface.Nowthechallengeis
tolearnmoreabouthowthisyoungaudiencerespondswithin
it.TheInternetisjustbeginningtohititsstrideasacommuni-
cationsmedium.Itisimportanttounderstandwhatthisnew
mediumofferschildrenasitbecomesanincreasinglyimportant
featureoftheirdailylives.

`. 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
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`. 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
enDnotes
1
However,theseestimatesareoftenbasedprimarilyonadultvisi-
tors.
2
The Competitive Media Reports data is aggregated by daypart
(e.g.,Saturday/SundaymorningnetworkTV,cable).Itisnotspe-
cifctoparticularprograms.So,theanalysisisbasedonalladver-
tisingthathasbeenidentifedaswithinthedaypartsthatcontain
childrensprogramming.
3
Breads & Pastries = breads + cakes; Non-carbonated Drinks =
fruitjuices+non-carbonatedsoftdrinks+milkbeverages+co-
coa;OtherSnacks=confectionary&snacks(fruitsnacks)+gela-
tins+yogurt+otherfruits;PreparedFoods&Meals=soups+
pasta+prepareddinners+preparedfoods.(Alsopeanutbutter&
jelly;candy&gum.)
4
Milk is included within the study sample. Although this may be
considered a commodity, substantial advertising expenditures
have been directed at branding milk through the got milk cam-
paigns.Itisforthisreasonthatitisincludedhere.Itisalsothe
non-carbonateddrinkagainstwhichthelargestadvertisingdollars
havebeenspent(byawidemargin),henceitsinclusionhere.
5
Classifcationdecisionsheremayormaynotrefectthemarketers
publiclystatedaudience.
6
Third-partysitessuchasthesemaybeusedtodrivetraffctoa
food marketers website. However, that phenomenon was not
addressedinthisstudy.
7
Therewasoneexceptiontothisrule.Onthesiteswhereadistinct
childrenssectionappears,onlythepagesdesignatedwithinthat
sectionwerecodedindetail(e.g.,juicyjuice.com).So,information
suchasdataforstockholdersandcareeropportunitieswiththe
companywasnotcoded.However,ifmaterialofspecifcinterest
inthisstudysuchasinformationforparents,privacypolicies,or
nutritionalinformationappearedwithinthelargersite,thesewere
codedandareincludedinthereportedresults.
8
Ninety-twopercentofthesamplewasindependentlyanalyzedby
twocoders.Ontheremaining8%,webcontentchangedbefore
thesecondcoderhadcompletedhisorherassignment.Overall
reliabilitiesaresuffcientlyhightobuildconfdenceintheaccuracy
ofthe8%ofsitesthathadtobecodedbyasingleindividual.
9
Even among very popular websites, the Internet does not cur-
rently attract the same number of children as the most popular
television programs. For example, according to Nielsen Media
ResearchSpongeBob SquarePantswasamongthetop15rated
programs on cable networks for the week of April 17-23 2006.
Thehighestratedepisode(Saturdaymorning)reached3.12mil-
lionhomesandattracted4.08millionviewers.(NewYorkTimes
2006).
10
Althoughthismayappeartobeasomewhatarbitrarysplit,itre-
fectsthedistributionreasonablywell.Tobecertainofthis,other
possible grouping methods were tried. Each of these revealed
thesamepatternintermsofstatisticalrelationshipstoothersite
descriptors,thislendingconfdenceinthevalidityofthesplit.
11
ThisisaquotefromthegamepreviewontheNestlesite.
12
Because several games (n= 93) include more than one study
brand (e.g., Oreos and Ritz), the total number of appearances
was 524 for the set of study brands. However, the analysis is
based on the set of unique games containing study brands (n=
431). In some sense, this actually understates the potential for
exposuregiventherepetitionofstudybrandswithingames.
13
Not all of the games include the specifc brands in our study.
Thesenumbersrefectthetotalnumberoffood-relatedgameson
thesite,irrespectiveofwhichbrand(s)werepresent.
14

Thecontrasthereisbetweenwebsitesthatcontainasinglebrands
(n=56)andthosewheremultiplebrandsarepresent(n=21).Given
theunequalcellsizes,TypeIIIsumofsquaresareusedtoensure
thevalidityofthestatisticaltests(Iacobucci1995).NotethatType
IIIsumofsquaresareusedinallcomparisonsofvariableswhere
cell sizes are unequal (e.g., child v. general audience, high vs.
lowvisitorgroups),notonlyinthespecifccomparisonreferenced
here.
15
Thesearetypesofbrandidentifers,notthenumberofinstances
inwhichtheyoccurwithinagame.Forexample,ifabrandchar-
acterappearswithinagamethisiscountedasonebrandidenti-
fer even if the character is presented multiple times within that
game.Thenumbersreportedherearethusanunderestimateof
theactualbrandexposure.
16
Foreachbrand,thisvariableisconstructedasaproportionbe-
causethisisacommonmetricthatcanbeusedacrosssitesthat
varyconsiderablyintheirscopeandcomplexity.
17
Thesenumbersareroundedtothenearestinteger.(So,forex-
ample,brandswithanaverageof1.51or2.49arebothrounded
to2.)
18

If any television commercials for food brands appeared on the

site,thiswascodedasayes.Inafewcases,thecommercials
wereforfoodbrandsotherthanthoseinthestudysample.
19
Implicitclaimsthatmightbemadesolelythroughpicturesorvi-
sualelementsonthewebsitewerenotcoded.

20
For the nutrition-related categories, the categorization scheme
usedintheFTCstudywasadoptedinitsentiretyhere.Thelist-
ingofbrandbeneftclaimsismorelooselybasedonIppolitoand
Pappalardos(2002)framework.Fortheseclaims,initialcatego-
ries were derived from their study, and then a small number of
categorieswereadded.Theseadditionswerejudgedtobepar-
ticularlyrelevanttomarketingcommunicationstargetingchildren.
21
The total fat, saturated fat and other fat claims in the Ippolito
and Papalardo (2002) study have been combined into a single
categorylabeledFatclaimsfortheanalysishere.
22
Nutritionclaimsmayapplytoasinglebrandvariant(e.g.,lowsug-
arcontentforDiet7-Up)andnotothers(e.g.,Regular7-Up).All
nutritionclaimsmadeforanybrandvariantwerecoded.
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 ``
23
TheChildrensOnlinePrivacyProtectionAct(COPPA)isintended
to prohibit unfair or deceptive practices in the collection, use or
disclosureofpersonallyidentifableinformationfromchildren(un-
der age 13) on the Internet. Among other provisions, COPPA
requires that commercial websites post privacy policies, obtain
verifable consent from a parent or guardian before they collect
personal information from children, and protect the confdential-
ityandsecurityofanyinformationcollected(seehttp://www.ftc.
gov/privacy/coppafaqs.htmforfurtherinformation).
24
Thelackofcasesinthenorequesttofriendconditionamong
theheavilyvisitedwebsitesmakesthechi-squaretestinvalidhere.
However,thefactthatallheavilytraveledsitesincorporatesucha
requestwouldseemtobeofinterest.
25
Intheinterestofclarity,theanalysisinthissectionisbywebsite.
So, if a flm or TV program appeared on one or more websites
inthestudyitisincludedinthetotalsreportedhere(evenifnot
specifcallylinkedtoastudybrand).

26
Intwocases,thetelevisiontie-inwastotheNickelodeonnet-
workratherthanaspecifcshoworshows.Thesewerecodedas
associationstomultipleTVshows.
27
Forpromotionaloffers,childrenaregenerallynotallowedtopar-
ticipateindependentlyfromtheirparents.Insomecases,children
mayparticipatebutparentsneedtobeinvolvedtoclaimaprize
orredeembrandpoints.Inothers,entrymaybelimitedtocon-
sumers13yearsofageorolder.Intheexamplesprovidedhere,
childrenareabletoparticipatebutgenerallywithparentalhelp.
28

Thistotaldoesnotincludeadditionalgamesonthesitethatcon-
tainedothernon-studybrands.
29
Thesameofferismadeoncheesiest.com,alsoaKraftsite.Inthis
case,codesfrominsidetheKraftMacaroniandCheeseboxare
usedtounlocktheFairly Odd Parentsbloopers.
30
To obtain some of these recipes visitors are sent outside of the
site in question through a direct link. (e.g., for Oreo recipes,
nabiscoworld.com visitors are sent directly to kraftfoods.com).
Theseareincludedinthereportedcounts.
31
A cookie is an electronic fle that tracks web users online be-
havior.Amessageissentfromawebservertoawebbrowseron
theuserscomputerwhereitisstored.Themessageisthensent
backtotheservereachtimethebrowserrequestsapagefrom
the server. The primary purpose of cookies is to identify users,
theirbrowsinghabitsandperhapspreparecustomizedwebcon-
tentforthem.www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/
Glossary.htmlaccessedApril25,2006).
32
Thisdoesnotmeanthattheotherwebsiteswerenotincompli-
ance.Rather,itsimplymeansthatsomewebsitesdidnotinclude
anexplicitstatementdirectedtoparentsabouttheiradherenceto
COPPAregulations,orCARUguidelinesperse.
33
Asnotedearlier,childrensbrandsthatwereincludedinthestudy
account for 80-85% of advertising expenditures within their re-
spective product categories during time periods in which pro-
grammingforchildrenisbroadcast(1999-2003).

34
Four hundred thirty-one of these games contain study brands,
andwereanalyzedindetailhere.
tables
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 `'
table 1
MetHoDs foR locatInG WebsItes
method
percent of
cases
search for website address on brand package
yes 53%
no 47
Insert brand name into address line of web browser (e.g., www.frootloops.com)
yes 47
no 53
search company website for links to childrens site or gaming section
yes 45
no 55
search for brand name using yahooligans (search engine for children)
yes 35
no 65
search for brand name using Google search engine (1st 10 results)
yes 49
no 51
search for product category, games using yahooligans (e.g., cereal, games)
yes 22
no 78
search for product category, games using Google search engine (1st 10 results only)
yes 11
no 89
table 2
cateGoRIes of aDVeRGaMes
Game category
number of
Games
percent of
Games
arcade games 127 29%
sports games (simulation) 78 18
adventure games or mazes 43 10
puzzles (jigsaw, crossword) 29 7
memory games (matching,
sequencing)
27 6
racing 24 6
trivia games 23 5
logic or strategy games 21 5
card or board games 15 3
creation games (e.g., coloring,
room design)
12 3
music or movie maker 12 3
miscellaneous 20 5
total 431 100%
table 3
PResence of bRanD MaRks In GaMes
type of Brand mark
number of
Games
percent of
Games
Brand logo Visible In Game?
yes 370 86%
no 61 14
food Item Visible In Game?
yes 245 57
no 186 43
product package Visible In Game?
yes 185 43
no 246 57
Brand character Visible In Game?
yes 188 44
no 83 19
does not apply 160 37
`o 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
table 4
bRanD benefIt claIMs
Type of Claim
Total
Claims
% of
Beneft
Claims
Examples of Claims
taste 412 27%
- Its really really goooood, soup that tastes like your favorite foods. (campbells)
- yummy (airheads)
suggested use 201 13
- Good party food. (pop tarts)
- Great as a lunch box treat or party favor. (wonderball)
fun & feelings 155 10
- cookie that gives you dippin, dunkin, delicious fun. (chips ahoy)
- fun goes on and on (Bubbletape)
texture or aroma 135 9
- cream flling fufy white in a sponge cake. (twinkies)
- Big crunch of honeycomb
new/improved 114 8
- pringles prints are an innovative snack with printed fun on every one.
- you can fnd new yummy smelling rub n snif froot loops cereal boxes in stores with the new
cherry cherry loops, here for a limited time.
Variety 101 7
- 4 tasty flavors (cap n crunch)
- try m&ms Brand Ice cream cones, cookie Ice cream sandwiches, Brownie Ice cream sandwiches.
popularity of brand 66 4
- life is known as a wholesome cereal with a delicious taste that millions of adults and children
love.
- americas favorite fruity gum. (Juicy fruit)
suggested user 53 4
- for serious nacho fanatics. (pepperidge farm Goldfsh)
- Its a classic favor combination you and the whole family can enjoy. (Kool-aid)
appearance 45 3
- see the candy magically change color in your mouth. (wonka)
- color changing cheetos twisted snacks.
pufery 44 3
- snacking on cheetos is one of the best things in life.
- complement your lighthearted, positive approach to life. (Kit Kat)
convenient 40 3
- craving a favorful snack you can snag on-the-go? (milk)
- ready-to-eat pudding snacks are Jell-o made simple.
comparative 13 <1 - theres more meat sauce in the lasagna kit. (chef Boyardee)
price 13 <1
- chuck e. cheeses is not only great fun, we ofer great deals, too.
- little debbie products on average sell for half that of other leading brands.
other 116 8
- the one, the only. the original. (cap n crunch)
- hit the beach without leaving your house. (skittles)
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 `
table 6
nUtRItIonal InfoRMatIon
type of Information percent of Brands
does site provide any nutritional information about brand?
yes
no
51%
49
If yes, what type of nutritional information?
nutritional facts
yes
no
76
24
complete list of ingredients
yes
no
47
53
Information about allergens
yes
no
33
67
how brand fts within balanced diet
yes
no
25
75
other information
yes
no
44
56
table 5
bRanD benefIt claIMs bY PRoDUct cateGoRY
product category
# of
Brands*
total
claims
% of total
Beneft claims
per Brand
top two categories of claims
Bread & pastries 4 232 15% 58
- texture or aroma
- suggested use
non-carbonated drinks 6 209 14 35
- taste
- suggested use
Ice cream 2 58 4 29
- taste
- fun & feelings
candy & gum 21 521 35 25
- taste
- suggested use
salty snacks 3 70 5 23
- taste
- Variety
cookies & crackers 8 120 8 15
- taste
- fun & feelings
restaurants 6 91 6 15
- fun & feelings
- taste
prepared foods & meals 5 45 3 9
- suggested use
- taste
soft drinks 6 46 3 8
- taste
- new/improved
Breakfast cereals 14 88 6 6
- taste
- fun & feelings
other snacks 5 21 1 4
- suggested use
- taste
peanut butter & jelly 2 0 - - - n/a
* claims are added together for brands that appear on multiple sites so that there is a single total for each brand.
`c 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
table 7
nUtRItIon claIMs
type of claim
# of
claims
% of nutrition
claims
examples
Vitamins & minerals 53 14%
- 100% daily value of Vitamin c
- contains Vitamin B1 and c
General nutrition claims 53 14
- perfect kid food for growing bones
- full of nutrition that the whole family can feel good about
other specifc nutrient claims 47 12
- milk has 9 essential nutrients active bodies need
- Good source of potassium
fat claims 41 11
- low fat frosted brown sugar cinnamon
- 3 grams of fat per serving
calcium 40 11
- has 10% calcium
- sunny delight with calcium contains as much calcium as milk
sugar & artifcial sweeteners 40 11
- sugar free
- with 50% less sugar than regular colas
calories, dieting or weight 36 10
- only 25 calories per pop
- 100 calorie pack
cafeine or preservatives 29 8
- cafeine free
- no cafeine
carbohydrate/protein content 23 6
- 0 carbs
- loaded with protein
fiber/bran 12 3
- now with whole grain!
- a good source of whole grain!
cholesterol 2 -
- contains no cholesterol
- Zero grams of cholesterol
sodium 1 - - 30% less sodium than our cheddar goldfsh
table 8
nUtRItIon claIMs bY PRoDUct cateGoRY
product category
# of
Brands
total
claims
% of total
nutrition claims
per Brand
top category of claims
non-carbonated drinks 6 197 52% 33 - Vitamins & minerals
Ice cream 2 21 6 11 - calories, dieting or weight
soft drinks 6 47 12 8 - calories, dieting or weight
salty snacks 3 14 4 5 - calories, dieting or weight
Bread & pastries 4 14 4 4 - total fat
cookies & crackers 8 23 6 3 - total fat
Breakfast cereals 14 22 6 2 - fiber & bran
prepared foods & meals 5 3 1 1 - total fat
other snacks 5 3 1 1 - sugar & other artifcial sweeteners
candy & gum 21 28 7 1 - carbohydrate/protein content
restaurants 6 5 1 1 - General nutrition claims
peanut butter & jelly 2 0 - - - n/a
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 `'
table 9
Web-InItIateD contacts WItH fRIenDs
type of Information percent of cases*
send a friend an e-card or greeting
yes
no
69%
31
challenge or link to a game
yes
no
51
49
Invite a friend to the website
yes
no
41
59
send information about the site to a friend
yes
no
41
59
send information about promotions to a friend
yes
no
14
86
send music to a friend
yes
no
2
98
send arts & crafts activity to a friend
yes
no
4
96
send coloring pages to a friend
yes
no
4
96
send a recipe to a friend
yes
no
6
94
*among those sites for which the option to contact a friend is given
(64% of total sample)
table 10
collectInG bRanD PoInts oR ReWaRDs
type of Information percent of Brands
Is site visitor given opportunity to collect brand points ofine?
yes
no
39%
61
If yes, how can these points be used?
to participate in contests or promotions
yes
no
67
33
to gain access to new or special games features
yes
no
33
67
to purchase brand-related merchandise
yes
no
13
87
to download special items from the website or gain special access
yes
no
10
90
to gain access to a television show episode online
yes
no
7
93
other
yes
no
13
87
table 11
InfoRMatIon foR PaRents
does site provide information specifcally for parents?
yes
no
97%
3
percent of sites percent of sites
If yes, type of information provided
Information to be collected from child frequently asked questions
yes
no
96%
4
yes
no
48%
52
Internet safety tips adherence to caruguidelines
yes
no
35
65
yes
no
47
53
management of cookies legal information
yes
no
84
16
yes
no
91
9
compliance with coppa regulations other
yes
no
76
24
yes
no
9
91
fIGURes
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 4!
FIGURE 1
DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD BRAND GAMES BY WEBSITE
(Mean = 7)
3 5
Number of Games
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

W
e
b
s
i
t
e
s
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 20 +
4. 4 '' ''''' ''^. ^'\c'^V'' ^'' 'c '''''c V^''c'' '' '''' ' '''''c'
fIGURe 2
MetHoDs UseD to PeRsonalIZe a GaMe
choices Involving Game players (52%)*
create a name for my game player
choose hairstyle or clothing for my player
choose the gender for my player
play as a specifcally chosen brand character
play as a specifc non-brand related character
choose opponent
choices Involving the mode of play (25%)
level of difculty
speed of play
type of golf swing
type of event (e.g., downhill vs. slalom skiing)
words to put in a puzzle
how characters move or what they say
number of baseball innings
type of movie
Game mode (e.g., race vs. capture the fag)
choices Involving design of the Game space (23%)
colors within game
name of game space
music or musical beats
flavor of brand package
color of brand package
type of movie or video
product design (e.g., candy design, surprise inside)
pictures to put on the wall in my room
*percentage of all personalization attempts. many games included 2 or
more approaches. these are illustrative examples.
fIGURe 3
eXaMPles of actIVItIes anD benefIts foR cHIlD MeMbeRs
acquire Gaming enhancements
post high scores to a leader board after playing games
receive monthly updates on new games
Gain exclusive access to secret games on the site
Get bonus power or extra lives in games
customize my web space
create my room on the site (also view a friends room)
customize my house (e.g., child can choose furnishings, decorate diferent rooms)
create a personally favored home page
create a passport
create a funky face
participate In promotions
enter sweepstakes
enter to become animated in a commercial
enter codes from package to see if you are a winner
Get sneak peeks at new Brand content
receive updates regarding new brands, promotions and exclusive ofers
Get new favor sneak peeks
receive a frst-look at new television commercials
Get sneak-peeks at the newest celebrities on the site
earn & accumulate rewards
accumulate passport stamps by surfng the site (stamps are required to play games)
earn decibels
earn stickers by playing a game
earn stripes for cool rewards
track your accomplishments
other activities
access a what do you think? page (allows children to answer a brand-related poll)
post ideas and opinions on the site
serve as a judge or provide comments on a flm festival held on site
Gain access to the lizard lounge (a fun place for children to play)play music,
set an alarm clock, listen to dinosaurs talk when visitor clicks on them, watch tV
commercials
obtain access to the music studio
use secret codes from package to gain access to special areas on the site
'^' 'c' '^V' ' '''''^' '' 3 4`
fIGURe 4
MoVIe tIe-Ins
Batman Begins
star wars
aladdin
finding nemo
shrek 2
christmas with the Kranks
spiderman 2
fantastic four
the hulk
Kangaroo Jack
pirates of the caribbean
charlie and the chocolate factory
lemony snicket
robots the movie
madagascar
et
disney flms *
*32 flms, all referenced on a single site (wonderball.com)
fIGURe 5
teleVIsIon sHoW tIe-Ins
dexters lab dora the explorer
Johnny Bravo yu-Gi-oh
powerpuf Girls Ghoria (Video Game awards)
courage, the cowardly dog american Idol
ed, edd n eddy looney toons
cow and chicken Jimmy neutron
sheep in the Big city flintstones
I am weasel Garfeld (character, not show itself )
mike, lu & og mtV
nickelodeon danny phantom
teen titans Barney
scooby doo arthur
spongeBob squarepants cliford
fairly odd parents Berenstein Bears
snoopy maya & miguel
mucha lucha mega warhead
fIGURe 6
eDUcatIonal actIVItIes anD InfoRMatIon
history food-related topics
facts about egypt (in a game) facts about fruit
Great american presidents facts about milk
historical people + dress (in a game) 3-a-day program
Information about the aztecs Information about cheese
names of people in history who share your birthday Information about calories
occupations Information about the importance of eating right
Baking
science safety rules for the kitchen
dinosaurs activities involving food pyramid
astronomy facts
animals Games
space technology Indoor games
activities to see optical illusion Games to play on road trips
Birthday party ideas
other academic areas Jokes and tongue twisters
spelling game riddles
math game
Importance of foreign languages other topics
Grammar web safety
Geography Information about osteoporosis
art & artists oral hygiene
facts about child hunger
sports & exercise Information about halloween
learn about athletics
Information about specifc sports
sports information
facts about exercise
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fIGURe 7
IllUstRatIVe aDVeRcatIon toPIcs
Information related to Brand, Brand Ingredient, or spokesperson
how gum is made (airheads)
facts about Juicy fruit and timeline for packaging
history of dr. pepper
how chocolate is made (hershey)
tony mobile trivia (e.g., length, weight, number of hours to build)
learn about nascar, buzzwords from brand spokesperson, Jef Gordon
learn about pepsi racing and car specifcations
ten-year timeline of got milk? advertising
statistics on candy dish owners (lifesavers)
trivia game or quiz (related to brand or its ingredients)
Brand character presents a science or history topic
facts about dinosaurs (on ritz dinosaur home page)
learn about optical illusions (with brand character embedded in them)
provide a history of st. patricks day (by elmer the elf - who suggests Keebler cookies for a st. patricks
day holiday party)
haiku (by Buckets the elf) who explains concept, then creates a haiku about Keebler)
Importance of eating breakfast
- trix tips, (e.g., cereal is fuel for busy kids)
- lucky charms (e.g., children who eat breakfast do better in school)
fun facts about animals (on page where animal characters love hostess snacks)
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fIGURe 8
tYPes of bRanD-RelateD eXtRas
desktop features (39%)* toys & accessories (11%)
downloads of brand characters to your desktop that sing, walk around printable baseball card (that you can put a photo)
Im or buddy icons paper airplanes (cut outs)
cursors masks (cut outs)
web browser banner printable snowboard creations
Brand wallpaper Bookmarks
Brand screensaver printable surfboard
Brand reminders (14%) product beauty shots (pdf)
pictures of brand logos and packages cut out a picture that you can put your head through
Brand name generator t-shirt design or iron on
pictures of brand characters printable obstacle course
Brand calendars (e.g., lunchables) tattoos
Brand door hanger printable costume kit (for brand character)
signs character fip books
tV ads paper light saber
milk mustache ad checklist stickers
radio ads health/wellness (7%)
sound bytes of brand character safe cooking tips
sounds of sipping, can opening (soft drink) health journal
light switch cover height chart (e.g., measure how many goldfsh tall you are)
arts & crafts activities (13%) exercise journal
make a spirit bracelet exercise tips
cow puppets taking care of a pet activity
make funky faces plan a family fun day
printable interactive coloring pages prizes/certifcates (2%)
drawing instructions autographed pictures
art using brand (e.g., popsicle stick art) pdf of price specifcations
printable custom bikes and skateboards that visitor creates congratulatory card
printable brand-related pennant that visitor creates on site award certifcate
Brand-related activity pages club membership card
Book cover instructions and decorations music (3%)
printable cd covers (that visitor creates) music
Games & puzzles (10%) party (2%)
puzzles/word search party ideas
Games party invitations
personality types (created in games) e-vites
additional items created in games (e.g., robots, outfts, home) shopping Inducements (1%)
Game ideas 6 rows of shopping list to give to parent (e.g., w/brand)
maze coupon
quiz
*among all extra items ofered (n=277). note that 76% of all brands ofered at least one extra, while 52% ofered two or more items.
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fIGURe 9
collectIon of PoInts anD tHeIR ReWaRDs
REwaRds To Enjoy offlinE REwaRds To Enjoy onlinE
Item collected Items collected
points inside Kids meals code from product package
codes on product package Game pieces from product package
points from product package (e.g., Kool-aid points) question posed on website, fnd answer on product package
proofs of purchase (upcs) question posed on website, fnd answer on in-store product display
nature of reward nature of reward
discounts on toys downloads
free movie tickets Instant messenger icons
Branded clothing (e.g., hat, t-shirt) screensavers
movie character fgurines (e.g., robots) sound fle with brand character (for your computer)
discount on personal video recorder
toys (e.g., lego set, branded plush toys) Bonus Items for customizing website
coupon book of values Items to decorate your room
free product (e.g., candy) additional features for the face you create
prizes (e.g., tV)
extra Game features
new levels of play within a game
new characters within a game
new games
performance enhancing game features (e.g., power tokens)
free nintendo game tips
promotions and prizes
sweepstakes entry
certifcate for prizes (e.g. movie rentals, free product [candy], music, game
rental)
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fIGure 10
examples of ad BreaK remInderstype of IndIcators sIte names
BurgerKing
hersheys & Kidztown
nabiscoworld
postopia
candystand
cuatmcdonalds
millsberry
nesquik
subwayKids
wonderball
wonka
aPPenDIces
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aPPenDIX a
fooD PRoDUct cateGoRIes
product cateGorIes contaInInG chIldrens Brands product cateGorIes comprIsed of adult Brands
Gelatins & puddings (mixes & prepared) sugar, syrup & artifcial sweetener
cereals shortening, oil, margarine
pasta products & pasta product dinners salad dressing & mayonnaise
prepared dinners & entrees (includes pizza) Baking mix, crust, topping, flling & ingredients
milk, butter, cream, eggs, yogurt & sour cream seasonings, spices, extracts & marinades
Ice cream, frozen novelties & sherbet etc. condiments, pickles & relishes
other fruits sauces, gravies & dips
soups Ingredients, mixes & seasonings
Breads, rolls, wafes & pancakes Infant foods
cakes, pies, pastries & donuts cheese
cookies & crackers dairy product substitutes
cocoa & milk additives citrus fruits
fruit juices & fruit favored juices Vegetables
regular carbonated soft drinks Beans & grains
carbonated soft drinks lunch meat, hot dogs, bacon & sausage
non-carbonated soft drinks meat
Beverages poultry
candy & mints fish & seafood
Gum Bakery goods
chips, nuts, popcorn & pretzels cofee
confectionery & snacks tea
restaurants, national Vegetable juices
dietary carbonated soft drinks
Bottled water
dairy, ice cream & yogurt stores
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aPPenDIX b
fooD bRanDs InclUDeD In tHe stUDY
using data from competitive media reports, these brands were identifed as the top-spending childrens food advertisers on tV,
accounting for 80% of television ad spending in their respective product categories
Breads & pastrIes cooKIes & cracKers prepared foods & meals
Kelloggs pop tarts oreo cookies Kraft macaroni & cheese
eggo wafes* ritz crackers & Bits lunchables
little debbie cakes pepperidge farm Goldfsh chef Boyardee pasta
hostess Baked Goods chips ahoy totinos frozen pizza rolls*
rice Krispy treats cheez-It spaghettios
candy & Gum teddy Grahams campbells soup
snickers cheese nips restaurants
m&ms chips deluxe mcdonalds
reeses cups & sticks fruIt JuIces & other non-carBonated drInKs Burger King
Kit Kat Kool-aid wendys
skittles sunny delight fruit drinks Kfc
life savers & crme savers capri sun fruit drinks pizza hut*
hersheys Kisses tang* subway
starburst Juicy Juice chuck e. cheese
3 musketeers hi-c fruit Juices & drinks* salty snacKs
hershey Bar nestle nesquik milk & drink mix pringles
milky way* milk doritos
Butterfnger Ice cream & froZen noVeltIes cheetos
wonka candy popsicle rufes*
nestle crunch nestle cones and pops lays potato chips*
twizzlers other snacKs Bugle corn snacks*
air heads fruit rollups fritos*
ring pops Betty crocker fruit By the foot* soft drInKs
nestle wonderball Betty crocker Gushers fruit snack coca cola
topps push pops quaker chewy Granola Bars pepsi
wrigleys Juicy fruit Gum General mills milk & cereal Bars* sprite
Ice Breakers Gum trix yogurt* mountain dew
Bubble tape Bubble Gum yoplait Go-Gurt yogurt* 7 up
cereals dannon danimals dr. pepper
cheerios Jell-o Gelatin & pudding snacks
frosted flakes peanut Butter & Jelly
pebbles Jif peanut Butter
captain crunch smuckers Jams & Jellies
honeycomb
froot loops
cinnamon toast crunch
apple Jacks
reeses peanut Butter pufs
trix
life cereal
lucky charms
cocoa pufs
Kix
* using the specifed decision rules, no child-oriented websites for these brands were found in may 2005. they were not included in subsequent analyses.
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aPPenDIX c
WebsItes InclUDeD In tHe stUDY
3musketeers.com honbatz.com popsicle.com
7up.com jello.com poptarts.com
airheads.com juicyjuice.com (just for kids section) postopia.com
applejacks.com juicyfruit.com pringles.com
bk.com (kids section) keebler.com/brand/onthegosnacks quakeraday.com(family fun section)
bubblegum.com kelloggsfunktown.com ronald.com
bubbletape.com kelloggs.com/products/treats/index.html sillyrabbit.millsberry.com
butterfnger.com kfc.com (kids section) skittles.com
candystand.com kids.icecream.com smuckers.com
capncrunch.com kidztown.com snickers.com
caprisun.com kool-aid.com sprite.com
cheetos.com lifecereal.com starburst.com
chefboy.com littledebbie.com subway-kids.com
chuckecheese.com luckycharmsfun.com sunnyd.com
cuatmcdonalds.com lunchables.com thecheesiest.com
danimalsxl.com millsberry.com thehollowtree.com
dannon.com mountaindew.com tonguetracks.com
dewbajablast.com mycoke.com tonythetiger.com
doritos.com mypasta.com topps.com
drpepper.com mysoup.com twinkies.com
frootloops.com nabiscoworld.com us.mms.com
funkyfaces.com nestlecrunch.com wendys.com(kids section)
gotmilk.com nesquik.com whymilk.com
got-milk.com nutritioncamp.com wonderball.com
gushers.com pepsi.com wonka.com
hersheys.com pfgoldfsh.com
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7536_CoverPB 7/6/06 7:49 PM Page 2
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